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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio House Bill 971 enacts the Save Ohio Sports Act to restrict certain sports gaming activities and repeal related statutes
Last action · July 1, 2026: IntroducedSponsors: Johnathan Newman and 9 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio House Bill 971 enacts the Save Ohio Sports Act, which prohibits sports gaming proprietors from offering s, parlays, s, in-play bets, or wagering on collegiate sports, and bans accepting credit cards for wagers or placing more than eight wagers within a 24-hour period. The bill repeals statutes authorizing certain online and lottery sports gaming operations, amends tax and withholding provisions related to sports gaming and casino winnings, and requires the Ohio Casino Control Commission to issue prorated fee refunds and return surety bonds to active licensees.
The measure restructures Ohio's legal sports betting framework by eliminating mobile and online sports pools, collegiate wagering, and complex bet types while altering tax withholding obligations for operators and patrons.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Sports gaming proprietors
Sports gaming proprietors must discontinue offering online pools, collegiate wagering, parlays, proposition bets, and credit card funding, while receiving prorated fee refunds and surety bond returns.
Sports gaming patrons
Patrons are prohibited from placing collegiate bets, parlays, proposition bets, or in-game wagers, are limited to eight wagers per 24 hours, and cannot use credit cards to fund wagers.
Ohio Casino Control Commission
The Commission is tasked with issuing prorated fee refunds, evaluating prior payments, returning surety bonds, and enforcing new betting restrictions.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of wagers are prohibited under the Save Ohio Sports Act?
What happens to active sports gaming licenses and fees under the act?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently filed. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Committee.
Procedural history
1 action- Jul 1, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Complete Restructuring of Legal Sports Betting
The bill shifts Ohio from an expansive sports gaming model permitting online pools and collegiate betting to a restricted framework that repeals multiple online and lottery sports gaming statutes.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy90Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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