Gov. Mike DeWine has asked Ohio lawmakers for a 100% increase of the tax levied on sports gambling proprietors as part of his 2026-27 budget proposal, after doubling the tax just two years ago.
By bringing the sports gambling proprietor tax from 20% to 40%, DeWine said Monday he also believes the projected increased revenue from the tax should go to a dedicated pool for the future construction and renovations of Ohio’s professional major and minor league stadiums, as well as youth athletic programs.
Ohio’s sports gambling program went live in 2023, and months later, DeWine pushed for the current 20% rate. He said Monday he believes proprietors, like online sportsbooks, are “extremely aggressive.“
“They’re in your face all the time,” DeWine said. “They’re getting Ohioans to give them, to lose massive amounts of money every year, and it seems to me only just and fair that some of the stadiums be paid for by them, or a portion of it.”
The pitch comes as the Cleveland Browns prepare to potentially relocate to the northeast Ohio suburb of Brook Park, where a domed stadium would be built. The dome alone would cost $2.4 billion, according to Ideastream, as part of a bigger project with additional investments in nearby hotels and housing.
Although it is early in the budget process, Ohio House Finance Chair Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said he has personal reservations about pushing the tax any higher.
“We’ve not even finished two football seasons and we’re talking about quadrupling that tax,” Stewart said Tuesday.
Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake), the House Finance ranking member, said the tax will require vetting.
“I think we have a lot more due diligence to do,” Sweeney said Tuesday. “We just had a massive increase in this tax last budget cycle from 10% to 20%. We are still realizing what that actually means for the industry.”
DeWine is also asking lawmakers to boost taxes on cigarettes to fund a child tax credit and on cannabis as the state looks to redirect tax revenue back to itself. These taxes, sometimes called “vice” or “sin” taxes, have drawn criticism for what some say is a regressive structure disproportionately burdening lower income Ohioans.
Lawmakers on the House Finance Committee heard their first day of testimony on the budget proposal for much of the day Tuesday, with further hearings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
