Gov. Mike DeWine wants changes to Ohio's sports gambling laws following news of the investigation of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers for sports betting.
DeWine wants the Ohio Casino Control Commission to remove what are known as prop bets from the list of legal bets that can be placed in the state. Prop bets, short for proposition bets, are made on specific players or actions in a game – not the outcome of a game itself.
“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass," DeWine said in a statement. “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."
The Casino Control Commission removed collegiate prop bets in January 2024, after some college players reported receiving threats.
In addition, DeWine wants major professional leagues to join in. He's asked the commissioners and players' unions of the six major sports leagues in the effort.
“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 Thursday afternoon.
"I just think they're [prop bets] really susceptible to abuse and this is something that we don't need," DeWine said.
DeWine said people could still gamble on the game itself, and admitted the action he's asking for would only affects bets made in Ohio.
"We can control what is bet physically inside the state of Ohio. We cannot control what happens in other states," DeWine said.
But DeWine said he wants to start a discussion with other states that allow legal sports gambling.
Earlier this month, Major League Baseball announced that it was investigating Cleveland pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase for sports gambling. The team placed the pitchers, who are a starter and closer respectively, on paid leave during the probe.
