Ohio Governor urges statewide ban on sports prop bets after MLB betting probe

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has called on the Ohio Casino Control Commission to remove all proposition bets, commonly known as “prop bets,” from the list of legal sports wagers in the state, citing evidence that the betting format is harming athletes and undermining the integrity of professional sports.

The request comes as Major League Baseball investigates betting activity linked to two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, who have both been placed on paid leave through August 31. The investigation focuses on alleged irregular prop betting patterns in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio during Guardians games in June.

In a statement issued Thursday, DeWine said: “The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass. 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. 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.”

Prop bets allow gamblers to wager on specific player statistics or in-game actions, such as whether a pitcher throws a ball or a strike to start an inning. The state already banned prop bets on college sports in 2024 after NCAA President Charlie Baker requested tighter restrictions, but the same rules have not applied to professional sports.

DeWine said he will ask commissioners and players' unions from the MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, and Major League Soccer to back his call for a wider ban on prop betting.

The Guardians’ management has said the team is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. According to media reports, two pitches thrown by Ortiz during a start are being examined after an unusual number of wagers were placed on him throwing a ball, which he did. Details of the investigation involving Clase have not been disclosed.

Concerns over the potential impact of prop betting have grown nationwide as more states legalize sports wagering. Last year, NBA player Jontay Porter was banned for life for betting on his own games. 

In 2024, MLB suspended five players for gambling, including a lifetime ban for Tucupita Marcano, who was found to have wagered more than $150,000 on baseball games. The call from DeWine, a Republican whose family owns the minor league Asheville Tourists baseball team, comes as Ohio’s sports betting market continues to expand.