Ohio advances sportsbook credit card deposit ban

• The Ohio Casino Control Commission is finalizing an amendment banning credit card deposits at licensed sportsbooks, a spokesperson confirmed this week.
• The rule still needs a public hearing plus sign-off from the Common Sense Initiative Office and JCARR before taking effect.
• A separate bill, House Bill 971, would go much further, banning online sports betting statewide entirely.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) is finalizing a rule that would bar licensed sportsbooks from accepting credit card deposits, a spokesperson confirmed this week.

The amendment, proposed in May under Governor Mike DeWine’s administration, closed its public comment period on May 15 and now awaits a hearing before final regulatory sign-off.

Rule nears finish line

The OCCC proposed the amendment to Sports Gaming Rule 3775-16-03 in May, removing credit cards as a permitted funding option for wagering accounts. Public comment closed on May 15 with no substantial opposition.

In mid-June, the commission unanimously advanced the amendment on its first reading, and staff began the filing process toward a final vote. A public hearing has not yet been scheduled. The rule still requires approvals from the Common Sense Initiative Office, which reviews proposed regulations for business impact, and the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) before it can take effect.

The commission’s next two public meetings fall on July 15 and August 19, though the rule has not yet been listed on either agenda. The restriction would apply only to licensed sportsbook accounts.

Daily fantasy sports operators are exempt, and the rule would not extend to unregulated prediction markets, which sit outside Ohio’s sports betting framework even as lawmakers weigh bringing them under the same licensing and 20% tax structure that applies to sportsbooks.

Operators already onboard

Ohio’s proposal would largely formalize what most licensed operators have already done voluntarily.

DraftKings became the first major sportsbook to drop credit cards, doing so in August 2025. FanDuel and BetMGM followed in March 2026, with bet365 and Caesars making the switch in April. Fanatics says it has never accepted credit card deposits on any of its platforms.

Card networks typically classify sportsbook transactions as cash advances, which can trigger higher fees and immediate interest charges. Regulators argue that treatment makes it easier for bettors to wager with borrowed money, deepening financial risk for those already struggling with losses.

Gary Click, Ohio State Representative and one of the bill’s cosponsors, has pointed to gambling debt as a driving concern behind the credit card restriction.

“(Gambling addicts) lose and lose and lose, and then they figure out, how am I going to pay the bills? I just ran up my credit cards. Now I’m deeper in debt and nothing to show for it.”

If adopted, Ohio’s credit card rule would put the state alongside at least nine other states that already restrict credit card deposits for sports betting, including Massachusetts, Illinois, Tennessee and Vermont, along with more recent additions in Colorado, Maine and Virginia.

Broader legislative push

A far more sweeping bill is moving on a separate track. House Bill 971, filed July 1 by Representatives Jonathan Newman and Beth Lear, is backed by eight additional Republican cosponsors. It would eliminate online sports betting statewide and confine wagering to Ohio’s four casinos.

The bill would cap individual bets at $100, limit bettors to eight wagers per 24 hours, and ban parlays, prop bets, live in-play betting and college sports wagering. It carries its own credit card restriction, layered on top of whatever the OCCC finalizes separately.

Two very different odds

With most licensed operators already compliant, the OCCC’s narrower rule stands a strong chance of clearing its remaining procedural steps with little industry resistance. Ohio legalized mobile sports betting in January 2023, and online wagering now drives the overwhelming majority of the state’s betting handle.

HB 971 faces a longer road. The bill has not yet been assigned to a House committee, and Governor DeWine has previously said he doubts the votes exist to pass a repeal, even as pressure builds from both regulators and lawmakers to tighten the state’s approach to sports wagering.

Ohio’s move is part of a wider pattern taking shape across the US market.

Colorado enacted a dual ban on credit cards and push notifications earlier this year, while Maine passed its own ban on sweepstakes casinos and credit card deposits. On the operator side, bet365 ended credit card deposits in April, following BetMGM’s own ban a month earlier and FanDuel’s move away from credit cards in March.