CINCINNATI — The Ohio Casino Control Commission is reporting more than $1.7 billion in the first two months of legal sports gambling in the state.
Some outlets are reporting Ohio was second in the nation — behind New York — for overall sports gambling for the month of January.
Even though you can place a bet in person at a sports book, the new data shows an overwhelmingly number of gamblers are choosing to bet online. While some are projecting a great first year in sports gambling revenue for Ohio, the milestone comes with a warning.
"We were expecting big numbers and the numbers came out and they were pretty huge," said Danny Cross, managing editor for Play Ohio. "A lot of that was fueled by promotional spending by the sports books, but it was still really big."
The OCCC sports gambling revenue reportshows $1,752,170,905 grossed for January and February in sports gambling. Almost 98% of that money is coming from online gamblers. The gross figures dropped by 43% overall from January to February, which Cross said is pretty typically during this time frame. While we don't have the reports for March, Cross expects to see similar numbers to February.
"March Madness typically brings in two to three times what the Super Bowl does, that's several weeks long it's just a lot of betting volume," Cross said.
To start the first week of April, sports gamblers will have an opportunity to legally place bets on the first major golf tournament of the year, The Masters.
"One of the things that I found fun, I am going to bet on The Masters and I haven't really thought about it much and I don't know who's in there but there are people to read and stuff to learn about this stuff and I enjoy watching a Sunday of a major or any of the bigger tournaments," Cross said. "April, baseball betting is not as big as basketball and football, The Masters will be interesting, a lot of people will try golf for the first time and things will slow down a bit for the summer and it will all ramp up as soon as the NFL starts."
Rachel Johnson, senior clinical director at the Cincinnati Center for Addiction Treatment, said sports betting can become very risky and harmful for those with problem gambling behaviors.
Johnson said while the millions of dollars in revenue for Ohio is good, there is a dark side to the fun and newness of legalized sports gambling in Ohio, especially when you can place a bet sitting on your couch.
"There are signs, they're not going to be as physical, they're behavioral and emotional and if you don't know that person you're not going to be able to look at them and say 'hey, I think there's a problem,'" Johnson said.
It comes as the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio is reporting a 135% increase in helpline calls from December 2022 to January 2023, and averaging 48 calls a day for January 2023 compared to 15 calls a day in January 2022. The top two reasons are financial and family problems.
"The good thing is with treatment and recovery those things are repairable," Johnson said.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, there are plenty of resources available:
Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-800-589-9966
State of Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services: 614-644-8456
Ohio for Responsible Gambling
Other Resources for Problem Gamblers
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