Ohio lawmakers hold off on tightening gambling laws as player betting controversies grow

Two recent gambling scandals tied to professional athletes with Northeast Ohio roots have renewed debate over whether Ohio should restrict or even prohibit “microprop” bets, wagers placed on individual player actions within games. However, despite the growing concern, state lawmakers say they have no plans to revise gambling laws for now.

Earlier this month, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted on federal charges alleging they intentionally threw certain pitches to help others profit more than $450,000 through microprop wagers. 

The case also followed last month’s FBI arrests of several NBA players, including Miami Heat guard and former Shaker Heights High School star Terry Rozier, accused of faking an injury during a March 2023 game so gamblers could cash in on prop bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Major League Baseball responded by announcing new limits on microprop bets. Gambling companies that handle nearly all U.S. sports wagers agreed to stop bets on individual pitches and cap others at $200.

Governor Mike DeWine, who in August had called for a total ban on prop bets linked to player performance, said through a spokesperson that he hopes the new limits will help. 

Governor Mike DeWine

“Would I sign a bill that bans prop betting? Of course,” DeWine said. “But without the legislature passing something, I need to go do what I can do -- and that’s what I did with the (ban on) microprop bets in baseball over $200.”

DeWine added that he hopes other major professional leagues will impose similar restrictions.

While legislative leaders say the scandals are troubling, none have committed to pursuing new laws. House Speaker Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, said lawmakers should examine how these betting types may invite misconduct. 

“I do think we need to ... comprehensively look at the kinds of betting that encourage this more,” he said. “You know, point shaving is one thing, but if I’m going to throw one (pitch) low and outside, and you’re going to make $1,000 off of it, that’s a real problem.”

House Speaker Matt Huffman

Huffman suggested the legislature could study the issue further, but said he has no immediate plans to introduce a bill. “I don’t think I would introduce legislation, because I don’t know what that would say,” he noted.

Democratic House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn of Cincinnati also voiced concern over the rapid rise of microprop gambling. “I think we do need to look at what has happened with the proliferation of a type of gambling that -- not only does it do harm to the sports leagues and the integrity of the game, it does incredible harm to the people who get addicted to that type of gambling,” Isaacsohn said.

However, he questioned whether state or federal authorities should address the issue. “I know that I don’t put much stock in the federal government at the moment to be able to make progress on important issues,” he said, referring to the ongoing government shutdown. 

“So, to the extent we can be of use and helpful in Ohio and trying to address that (sports-betting) issue, we should.”

House Finance Chair Brian Stewart of Pickaway County, who earlier opposed DeWine’s call for a full ban on prop bets, said he supports a more focused approach. “I think so long as we’re in the realm of targeting a kind of niche subcategory of prop bets,” he said, “I don’t know that’s something that the legislature is going to get terribly involved in.”

State Sen. Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville, the Senate GOP’s point person on gambling issues, said he supports MLB’s restrictions. “But if there needs to be legislative change, if some of these leagues aren’t willing to look at some of these (limits) and sportsbooks aren’t willing to look at some of these micro(prop), negative-outcomes bets, we certainly need to do something to change it,” he said.