Why Doesn't Ohio Have Sports Betting?
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia do. Why not us?
The Supreme Court struck down Nevada’s monopoly on sports betting back in May 2018. Ohio’s neighbor, West Virginia, which has never been accused of being a liberal oasis in the 21st century, had already passed a bill legalizing sports gambling (if the Supreme Court were to strike down the ban). It proved fortuitous.
Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan soon followed suit. But why not Ohio, the state that allowed casinos to open in the face of Evangelical pushback in 2012?
Well, it has a lot do with the Republican control of state government if you can believe that. Not that these reptiles are necessarily against sports gambling. It’s more of a matter of two factions trying to decide which of their corrupt corporate cronies get to pocket the substantial windfall. The game, as they say, remains the same.
In Ohio, a war erupted over whether the Casino Commission or the Lottery Commission would regulate sports betting. I side with the Casino Commission since there is actual skill involved in sports betting, unlike playing the Powerball or scratching off a ticket.
However, I am just some random geek off the street with a humble newsletter. I don’t have the power to award massive contracts to corporate interests. Nobody asks me for my opinion on the matter, not that stops me from giving it anyway.
The main force behind the push to award the windfall to the Lottery Commission was — you guessed it! — disgraced former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford).
Once upon a time, Householder, as the third most powerful politician in the state, was in a position to dictate which cabal of corporate crooks got to pocket our gambling money.
He was so powerful that he engaged in the corruption in broad daylight — the Ohio Way.
Here’s a note from last week’s Rooster on the death of super lobbyist Neil Clark, who was indicted alongside Householder on RICO charges related to the passage of HB-6:
Have you ever wondered why Ohio has never legalized weed or sports betting? Clark helped defeat a statewide initiative of the former in 2015 and played a big role in stalling efforts of the latter when he and Larry Householder tried to direct sports betting into the coffers of the Ohio Lottery Commission with HB-194, a 141-page bill that also included a clause requiring Ohio to purchase 2,500 self-service kiosks within six months of its passage from Intralot, which holds the technology contract with the Lottery Commission, and which is represented by Clark himself.
You almost have to admire it in a way that you can hear their champagne glasses clinking as they laugh at the small folk who simply bend over and take it. It might have worked out for them, too, had they not gotten too greedy and tried to pass the worst energy law of the 21st century under the noses of the FBI.
With Clark taking the easy way out and Householder set to die in federal prison like the career crook he is, where does Ohio stand on the issue today?
Governor Mike DeWine, a man as entertaining as a moldy carton of sour cream, said earlier this month that sports gambling in Ohio is “inevitable” before correctly noting that “sports [gambling] is already in Ohio; we’re just not regulating it.”
With Householder’s bill almost literally dead in the water, all eyes turn to the Senate, another legislative body known for moving at the speed of a dinosaur fossil encased in amber when it comes to doing business that benefits everyday citizens.
There is, however, hope. That’s more than you can say most of the time in the Statehouse.
From Jeff Edelstein of sportshandle.org:
The big news to come out of this week’s Ohio Senate Select Committee on Gaming hearing is that there are only two more Ohio Senate Select Committee on Gaming hearings left and a bill will be forthcoming after the Passover and Easter holidays.
Sen. Kirk Schuring, the chair of the committee, made that announcement before Wednesday afternoon’s hearing began.
“During the religious holidays we have a two week period of break,” Schuring said. “During that period I will be contacting every member of this committee for their input on the bank of evidence that has been presented to us relative to gaming as a whole. And then I’ll be conferring with the Senate president after I have a chance to talk to the committee, and at that point we’ll build a bill, and we’ll introduce a bill when we all come back from the break.”
Hopefully this bill will correctly award the contract to the Gaming Commission, where it belongs. But it’s not that simple considering the asshole that created a way for sports teams to further rip off season-ticket-holding fans is also trying to get his cut of the pie.
From the same article:
Finally, the committee heard from Rick Ohanian, an architect and builder, who told the committee he built the first Embassy Suites Hotel in Dallas in 1984 and also said he invented the permanent seat license (PSL) in 1987.
…
“It’s no secret I’d like to run this for you for three reasons,” he continued. “Number one, I invented the system, number two I know more about it than anybody alive, and number three I also have two new products that I invented that would allow the state to make revenue beyond the borders.”
Yeah, hard pass on this dude who is trying to direct state money into his pockets. Other states seem to be operating just fine without his self-aggrandizing expertise.
But this is Ohio, and things are never that straight forward. The Ohio Senate Select Committee will meet for the second-to-last time on the issue tomorrow. Perhaps Jesus will show the legislators the light on the issue next month when he stunts on his enemies by rising from his grave.
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