The Ohio Casino Control Commission has moved to bar credit card funding for sports betting accounts statewide. The rule is not yet in force, and it still has to clear the state’s Common Sense Initiative and the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.
State News reported on July 6 that the push was being framed as a safer-gambling measure. Derek Longmeier, the executive director of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, said bettors should spend only money they have and that putting money on a credit card goes beyond that principle.
The proposal would remove credit cards as a funding method under Ohio Administrative Code 3775-16-03. Later coverage said bettors would still be able to use debit cards, ACH transfers, wire transfers and other approved payment methods, while promotional credits, winnings and automated bank transfers would remain permitted.
Betting News said the proposal first appeared in May as part of a rulemaking package, and that the commission had moved through public comment and administrative review. It described the change as a way to reduce financial risk by discouraging gambling with borrowed money.
The policy lands in a state where concern about problem gambling has already been building. A 2022 survey found that one in five Ohioans qualified as at-risk gamblers, and the state problem gambling helpline received 9,448 calls in fiscal 2023, up 66% from the previous year.
Reporting also said calls to the hotline rose notably in 2023. Ohio legalized sports betting in 2021 after legislation passed with 14 of 132 lawmakers voting against it, and Gov. Mike DeWine has called signing the law his biggest mistake.
Ohio would join roughly six other states, including Illinois and Tennessee, that already restrict credit card use for sports betting. Betting News also said several major US sportsbooks, including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbook, already prohibit credit card deposits across their platforms.
The regulatory move comes alongside a broader legislative push from House Reps. Johnathan Newman and Beth Lear. According to the Ohio House, their Save Ohio Sports Act includes nine measures, five focused on consumer protection and four on sports integrity, and would ban manipulative betting formats, eliminate collegiate sports betting and restrict predatory industry practices.
The House press release says the bill still awaits assignment to a number and committee.
