Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants all prop betting abolished in the Buckeye State.
- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is calling for a statewide ban on all sports prop betting, citing growing concerns about its impact on athlete safety and game integrity.
- The move comes amid a Major League Baseball sports betting investigation and two Cleveland Guardians pitchers being placed on leave.
- DeWine is urging sports leagues and regulators to support the ban, stating the risks of props outweigh the benefits and calling prop betting a “failed experiment.”
DeWine, in his second term as governor, announced on Thursday that he is calling on the Ohio Casino Control Commission to yank prop bets from the authorized menus of legal sports betting operators.
“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm,” DeWine said in a press release. “The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct this problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace.”
The massive Ohio sports betting move, the governor’s press release notes, follows Major League Baseball announcing two Cleveland Guardians pitchers have been put on leave in connection with a sports betting-related investigation.
DeWine also cited previous concerns about prop betting, voiced after reported threats to college athletes at the University of Dayton in the wake of Ohio launching legal sports betting on Jan. 1, 2023.
If the governor's request comes true, it would not be the first time Ohio has curbed prop betting. Following an NCAA request last year, state regulators banned college player props. However, professional sports props were untouched.
DeWine now wants all prop betting shut down at licensed sportsbooks in his state.
“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass,” DeWine said in a statement. “First, there were threats on Ohio athletes, and now two high-profile Ohio professional athletes have been suspended by Major League Baseball as part of a ‘sports betting investigation.’”
DeWine says he will ask the commissioners and players’ unions of the six major U.S. sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS) to back him in his effort to ban prop betting “to ensure the integrity of their leagues.”
The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass. A particular problem is with micro prop bets – prop bets on highly specific events within games that are completely controlled by one player.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 31, 2025
More: https://t.co/L2hpuPWOcl pic.twitter.com/FGZUh7nshT
The Republican governor (who cannot run for reelection in 2026) also made a point of saying there is “a particular problem with micro prop bets,” a wagering product that a New Jersey lawmaker recently proposed banning in the Garden State.
But, as noted in his press release, DeWine has had concerns about the side-effects of legalized sports wagering in the past.
In 2023, in response to marketing missteps by operators and reported student-athlete harassment, the governor signed budget-related legislation into law that doubled the state's tax rate for sportsbook operators to 20% and criminalized "betting-related threats" against athletes.
A DeWine-backed proposal earlier this year to double the tax rate again for sportsbook operators fell short. However, the governor recently expressed his disapproval of online casino gambling as well.
More to come.
