CINCINNATI — The Ohio Casino Control Commission approved its first 200 sports-betting licenses Wednesday, including 17 at bars and restaurants in Southwest Ohio.
These Type C Sports Gaming Host licenses will enable companies to install kiosks that take up to $700 per week in bets from any adult. The kiosks will be programmed by separately licensed sports betting proprietors with four types of wagers, including point spreads on individual games and parlays involving four games per bet.
“It’s going to end up being a really nice thing for business,” said Marty Angiulli, owner of Martino’s on Vine, the first bar in the Clifton area to secure a license. “We try to be a sports bar … so we said, ‘Let’s try to get a kiosk' to keep them here to watch the game and increase our business as far as food and alcohol.”
Kiosks are just one of the ways Ohio will launch sports betting on Jan. 1, 2023. Phone-betting apps and retail sportsbooks in casinos and stadiums will also be licensed to take bets in Ohio, under an application process that began in June.
To qualify for kiosks, bars and restaurants must secure a $1,000 host license from the Casino Control Commission. They also have to be a lottery retailer in good standing and hold a D-1, D-2 or D-5 liquor permit. And they have to partner with a company that operates the machines, under a Type C proprietor’s license, also issued by the commission.
The Ohio Lottery has pre-authorized more than 1,200 companies as qualified to seek Type C licenses. As of Aug. 15, the commission had received 652 applications, 200 of which were unanimously approved by resolution Wednesday. A map of the approved licenses shows four on Cincinnati’s west side and three in Butler County. More than two dozen applicants were approved in the Cleveland area, compared to 18 in the Columbus area.
Although licenses were approved Wednesday, sports betting hosts still must take several steps before Jan. 1. They include the submission of compliance materials to address how they’ll handle security and responsible gaming standards.
Among those that didn’t make the cut was Robin’s Nest Par 3 Golf Course in Cleves, where co-owner Joe Oldiges figures it’s only a matter of time before his application is approved.
“The gaming doesn’t start until Jan. 1,” Oldiges said. “We’ve got some things to add in the building, extra TVs, possibly furniture things of that nature.”
Oldiges is hoping to use sports betting to keep golfers in his clubhouse before and after they play his 9-hole course. He has talked to several of the sports-gaming proprietors that applied for Ohio licenses and expects to partner with Intralot, which already operates the keno and lottery machines in his building.
“They claim it’s just going to be a software update,” Oldiges said. “It’s just one company, one phone number for any issues. It’s a real nice selling point. Their deal is no better than anybody else.”
Oldiges and Angiulli said several proprietors have offered to refund their $1,000 license application fee if they sign a contract.
