Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is not mincing words. He says signing off on legal sports betting is the single biggest mistake of his political career and he wants other stats to hear him loud and clear before they make the same call. DeWine approved sports betting legislation back in 2021, and Ohio officially launched its market in 2023. At the same time it probably seemed like a reasonable move new revenue, a regulated market, and happy sports fans. But a few years in DeWine has completely changed his tune.
Speaking at the Columbus
Metropolitan club forum last week, he didn’t hold back. “What i did not anticipate, and I should have, is the huge amount of money that these gambling companies would come in with their advertising and flood the airways. “More Ohioans are gambling and losing money, and athletes are being abused online as a result of sports betting,” he added.
He also pointed out something that often gets left out of the sports betting conversation the human cost. More Ohioans are losing money and athletes are facing online abuse from bettors who lost on games. That’s not a small thing.
The microbetting problem is getting worse
One area where DeWine has been especially vocal is microbetting. If you are not familiar with it, microbetting is basically wagering on tiny moments within a game think the outcome of the next pitch in baseball, or the next round in a match. It’s fast, it’s addictive, and it’s raising serious integrity concerns.
Things got very real in Ohio when two Cleveland Guardians players were arrested over suspicious betting patterns tied to their own pitches. DeWine pushed hard for a full ban on microbetting patterns tied to their own pitches. DeWine pushed hard for a full ban on microbetting markets after that. He could not get the MLB or the sportsbooks on board, so he ended up settling for a $200 stake limit instead, which he clearly was not thrilled about. His frustration was obvious. He said any real fix “needs to be universal” and warned that sports leagues are “just playing with fire” by letting microbetting continue.
This matters a lot for esports, too. Live in-play betting already dominates the esports world, with around 86% of all bets placed on Dota 2 being live wagers, which is way above the 55% average across traditional sports. And as betting interest grows in smaller, lower-profile esports events, the risk of match manipulation goes up significantly. Players in lower tier competitions do not earn the same kind of money as top-level pros, which makes them more vulnerable to temptation.
Ohio’s laws do cover esports. The state officially recognises esports events as regulated competitive contests, and licensed sportsbooks can offer esports markets as long as the Ohio Casino Control Commission approves the events. So everything DeWine is worried about applies directly to competitive gaming as well.
Are Other States Listening?
DeWine’s very public regret is landing at an interesting moment. Several states are in the middle of their own debates about expanding legal gambling, and his words carry weight.
In neighboring Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear vetoed a broad gambling bill just last month. Efforts to expand gambling in Minnesota and Mississippi have also stalled this year. Wisconsin, on the other hand, just approved online betting and is getting ready to launch so not everyone is hitting the brakes.
DeWine’s message to states that haven’t opened up yet is pretty straightforward: don’t. He knows firsthand that once the market is live, walking it back is nearly impossible. Ohio isn’t going back the law is in place, the industry is operating, and DeWine’s own term as governor ends next year anyway.
But the warning is out there. Whether the next wave of states takes it seriously is another story entirely.
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