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Ever had buyer’s remorse after making a big purchase and/or decision? When your expectations fail to match reality?
Imagine that feeling 1000X. That’s how Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is probably feeling. He’s been the governor of the Buckeye State since 2019 — one year after the Supreme Court made legal sports betting possible.
DeWine and the state he oversees didn’t jump on the legal betting bandwagon right away. No, it wasn’t until 2023 when it launched Ohio Sports betting.
It hasn’t even been three years since legalization, and well, DeWine is already regretting it. Yes, you read that correctly. Keep on reading, and we’ll explain why that is (and if it’s even a heartfelt regret or not).
DeWine Comes Clean On Legalized Betting
In an interview with the Associated Press, DeWine let it rip. He expressed regret over the legalization of sports betting due to the scandals, nonstop ads, and the sheer influence the top sports betting apps have.
“Look, we’ve always had gambling, we’re always going to have gambling,” DeWine was quoted. “But just the power of these companies and the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet is really different once you have legalization of them. … Ohio shouldn’t have done it.”
The state has been rocked by betting scandals so you can see where the governor’s headspace might be. If you remember, earlier this year, a pair of Cleveland Guardians pitchers — Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz — were accused of rigging pitches as part of a betting scheme. Up until the NBA’s latest scandal, it was one of the biggest betting scandals since betting became mainstream. In response, DeWine was directly involved in the talks that led to operators limiting micro-betting on pitches to $200 and banning pitch bets from parlays altogether.
Oddly enough, DeWine isn’t the first bigwig politician to express regret over legalizing it. Just recently, Massachusetts Sen. John Keenan also apologized for voting yes on legalization.
“When I voted to legalize sports betting I never thought it would become what it is,” Keenan said. “We unleashed an industry that now promotes betting on anything and everything imaginable and unimaginable all over the world, 24 hours a day, every single day. I deeply regret my vote and I want to publicly apologize to those who have lost the opportunity to sit and watch a game just for the enjoyment of the game.”
They really hate the nonstop DraftKings and FanDuel commercials on sports games, eh? Then again, don’t we all?
DeWine Loves The Tax Revenue Though
Honestly, we doubt how sincere DeWine is. If he was really against betting, he could throw his weight around and get betting banned again. But… that would mean shutting down a huge revenue source for the state.
After being legal for two years and nine months, Ohio has collected nearly $450 million in sports gambling taxes. That’s among the best in the country which now has 39 states with a legal marketplace of some kind. These numbers are showing no signs of slowing down either.
Ohio just released its sports betting numbers for September — the first full month of college and NFL betting. To no one’s surprise, Ohio’s market remains especially strong. Sportsbooks in the state took in $967 million in bets in September, their seventh month above the $900 million mark since launch. September was Ohio’s third-highest handle of 2025 and the fifth-largest month in Ohio sports betting history.
Here’s the thing though: revenue was actually down in the month. Sportsbooks pulled in just $77.7 million in revenue — a painful 30.6 percent year-over-year drop. The overall hold fell to 8 percent, five points below last September and three points below August. More than anything, this just means football results were friendly to bettors. It doesn’t say anything about the health of Ohio betting.
In betting — whether it’s Ohio or elsewhere — there’s going to be flukey months. Months where casual bettors hit it big because an underdog pulls out a win or something to that effect. That’s likely what happened in September, an otherwise killer month for the state.
Ohio’s Market Is Still Strong — Even If Its Governor Isn’t
All this is to say, Ohio sports betting is becoming “too big to fail.” Even if the state governor is virtue signaling regret over legalizing, the money is just too good to turn down.
The rest of the year will prove that. The state’s favorite team — the Buckeyes — is the best team in the country right now. Surely, locals will come out in droves to bet on them in the College Football Playoff. The Browns also have newfound interest thanks to Shedeur Sanders, which should bolster those betting numbers, as well.
So yes, DeWine might hate that sports betting exists (in public, probably not privately), but the numbers keep proving why lawmakers legalized it in the first place. Ohio created one of the biggest betting markets in the country — and no amount of political regret is going to slow it down now.
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