Gov. DeWine calls for end to prop betting
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants to eliminate proposition bets from the bets that gamblers can make in the state.
The Republican governor wants the Ohio Casino Control Commission to remove the type of bet from the list of possible bets under Ohio’s rules.
The move follows an announcement from Major League Baseball that it placed two Cleveland Guardians pitchers — Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase — on leave amid a “sports betting investigation.” Both are on leave through Aug. 31.
“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass,” DeWine said in a release. “First, there were threats on Ohio athletes, and now two high-profile Ohio professional athletes have been suspended by Major League Baseball as part of a ‘sports betting investigation.’
“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm,” DeWine added. “The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct this problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace.”
In his release, the governor also highlighted “micro prop bets” as a particular concern because they involve “highly specific events” within games that one player completely controls.
As WKYC-TV reported, Ortiz and Clase haven’t technically been suspended. Instead, they were placed on “non-disciplinary paid leave.” Reports suggest the investigation follows allegations of unusual prop betting in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio during Guardians games in June.
WKYC-TV, citing “multiple media reports,” reported that the allegations surrounding Ortiz involve pitches during games on June 15 and June 27. Two pitches were “well out of the strike zone,” prompting IC360, a betting-integrity firm, to flag them “after noticing an ‘unusual’ amount of gambling activity on micro bets calling for the throws to result in either a ‘ball or hit batsman,’” the station reported.
DeWine previously raised worries about prop betting after threats to athletes at the University of Dayton. In February 2024, the Ohio Casino Control Commission removed collegiate prop betting from the types of bets available in Ohio, which Cleveland.com reported followed a letter from NCAA President Charlie Baker.
Despite the changes, gamblers can still bet on game outcomes and final scores of collegiate sports contests. The change had no bearing on betting on professional sports in Ohio, including prop bets.
“I don’t know exactly the percentage of betting that happens just on player props or on props altogether it would be, I would have to say more than I think it was 1.35 percent the casino control commission found for just college player props,” Geoff Zochodne, senior news analyst at Covers.com, told WFMJ-TV. “If we’re talking like NFL player props that’s a big chunk of action for these sports books.”
The governor said he would ask the commissioners and players’ unions of the six major professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Hockey League, to back the push to eliminate prop betting.
“There’s really nothing more important than the integrity of the game. Whether our team wins or loses, we care a lot about that but ultimately the enjoyment, everything is at stake when you are talking about the integrity of the game,” DeWine told reporters on Thursday, Statehouse News Bureau reported.
The Buckeye State legalized sports gambling in 2023, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a near-national ban on it.
“You can make a lot of money doing prop bets, you know I’ve made a good amount doing Fan Duel,” Austin Heider of Youngstown told WFMJ-TV. “But then again the whole thing where the player can get in on it is something I’ve thought about as well in the past so I don’t know, maybe restrict it in some way.”
