Ohio

Ohio Senate Majority Leader Kirk Schuring, one of the leading lawmakers behind the push to grant legal status to sports betting in the Buckeye State, is quite optimistic about its chances. Schuring, a Republican from Canton, said in a recent interview that that a conference committee could meet sooner than later to start work on a final bill on sports betting that would allow the state’s residents to start placing wagers on their favorite sports event and team as early as next spring.

MGM Northfield Park, a racino (racetrack plus casino) in Northfield area of Ohio, has announced that it will pay more than $15 million to Nordonia Hills City School District over a period of six years to settle a property tax dispute.

Laws in Ohio, a state in the Midwestern region of the U.S., allow public schools and other taxing authorities to contest values of assessed properties that have already been were determined by local officials. Nordonia Hills City School District used its powers to do the same.

Taking the first major step towards the legalization of retail and online sports-betting in Ohio, the State Senators passed Senate Bill 176 (SB 176) by voting 30-to-02 in support of the measure.

The SB 176 has specifically designed to allow gaming entities in the Midwestern state to apply for one of 58 land-based and remote sportsbetting licenses that the state government has plans to issue in the coming years.

Casinos and so-called racinos in the American state of Ohio collectively reported an impressive increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the month of September, with gaming win totaling at $164 million.