Ohioans wagered $7.65 billion in sports betting last year the first year it was legal in Ohio.  

Ohio legalised sports betting in 2021 and the law went into when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 2023 — moments before the Ohio State Buckeyes lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the final moments of the Peach Bowl. 

Sports betting brought in more than $936 million in total tax revenue and the rest of the money was paid out in winnings, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. 

“From the Commission’s perspective, Ohio’s first year of sports gaming went fairly smoothly – we did have some advertising violations from a few operators at the beginning of the year, but once those were addressed we have not had any other violations,” Jessica Franks, OCCC spokesperson, said in an email. 

Less than a week after legal sports betting began in Ohio, the OCCC announced it was seeking $150,000 fines against BetMGM, Caesars and DraftKings for running ads without including messages about responsible gambling. 

Unsurprisingly, January saw the most wagers with more than $1.11 billion in bets placed. November had the second highest amount of wagers with more than $864 million while July had the lowest amount of wagers with $331 million.

Wagers dipped in the summer, but the fall saw an upward trajectory of bets, starting in September when there was $690 million wagered —likely coinciding with football season.