DeWine regrets legalizing sports betting after the Cleveland Guardians scandal
Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources officially designated Scioto Brush Creek as Ohio’s newest state scenic river.
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has said he regrets his decision to legalize sports betting in the state, adding that he would now prefer to repeal it.
DeWine changed his mind after it was revealed that two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, were involved in a sports betting scheme by rigging their pitches, as Ohio.News previously reported. Ortiz pleaded not guilty.
“Look, we’ve always had gambling, we’re always going to have gambling,” DeWine told The Associated Press. “But just the power of these companies and the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet is really different once you have legalization of them.”
DeWine added that he thinks he shouldn’t have allowed that. The legislation that DeWine previously signed allowed adults 21 and older to place sports bets online, at casinos, at racinos and at stand-alone betting kiosks in bars, restaurants and professional sports facilities.
Before speaking with the Associated Press, DeWine had previously suggested that microprop sports bets should be restricted, praising Major League Baseball for doing so.
DeWine also urged the National Football League and other leagues to do the same.
“These leagues need just to wake up and see that this is a problem,” DeWine said. “They’re going to have to take action.”
DeWine told the news source that he “would have preferred to have completely done away with the micro-prop bets.”
However, DeWine, who could be replaced next year either by Democrat Amy Acton or Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, acknowledged that there is not enough support for repealing Ohio’s sports betting laws right now at the Ohio Statehouse.
“There aren’t enough votes for that. I can count,” he said. “I’m not always right, but I can pretty much guarantee you that they’re not ready to do this.”
DeWine said that he will use other ways to make it harder for people to engage in sports betting.
According to him, “these sports are playing with dynamite here, and the integrity of the sports is at stake.”
“So, you try to do what you can do, and you try and warn people, and try to take action like we did with collegiate, and you try to take action like what we’re doing with baseball,” he said. “But we’ve got to keep pushing these other sports to do it, too.”
