Banned MLB Legend and Gambler Pete Rose to Place First Legal Sports Bet in Ohio

• MLB Legend Pete Rose to Place OH’s First Ever Sports Bet at Hard Rock Casino Cincy

• Ohio Joins 30+ U.S. States Already with Legal Sports Betting Markets on January 1

• The U.S. Sports Betting Market Now a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry and Growing

MLB Legend Pete Rose to Place OH’s First Ever Sports Bet at Hard Rock Casino Cincy

Legendary MLB switch hitter Pete Rose will be up to bat once again after the 2022 New Year’s Eve clock counts down to zero since at exactly midnight on January 1, 2023, Hard Rock Casino Cincy will be open for legal sports betting business and Charlie Hustle will place the first bet.

It’s a fitting if not ironic tribute to one of the legends of baseball, Rose the former Cincinnati Reds outfielder/infielder/manager who still holds MLB records for hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and at-bats (14,053), an Ohio icon still hustling.

As infamous a sports gambler as he was famous for his baseball skills, on August 24, 1989, Rose agreed to a lifetime ban after a Major League Baseball investigation concluded he bet on the Cincinnati Reds to win while managing the team, an MLB sin that is mostly unforgivable.

That black mark on Rose still singes his reputation, the 81-year-old baseball prodigy who would otherwise be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame still searching for some level of redemption, all part of what makes his participation in Ohio’s legal sports betting launch so compelling.

The first official bet will take place at 12:01 a.m. on January 1 at the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati and chances are it will be crowded with fans of the former MVP and Gold Glover, an exciting ceremony to kick off Ohio’s thrilling (and hopefully lucrative) new venture.

Ohio Joins 30+ U.S. States Already with Legal Sports Betting Markets on January 1

For what seemed like forever, American bettors had to either travel to Vegas or Atlantic City to place their sports bets, but then in May 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA and gave every state the right to choose to legalize, regulate, and tax their own markets.

Since then, over thirty states have done just that and launched their own versions of legal sports markets, some with just mobile or just retail options available, most with both, and now Ohio will join in and (by law) launch their own legal market on the first of January 2023.

What Ohio lawmakers no doubt came to realize is that state-resident sports gamblers have always been placing bets, it’s just that in the past those that could not afford to travel to Vegas or Jersey were forced to use unregulated offshore sportsbooks to handle their action.

Of course, since states have been allowed to legalize their own such markets, most of Ohio’s nearest neighbors including Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, have all joined in the fun so any bettors from Ohio who live near a border can take full advantage of that.

But all that money was therefore pouring out of state.

The U.S. Sports Betting Market Now a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry and Growing

In just over four years, the U.S. legal sports betting industry has generated a $160 billion handle which has resulted in almost $12 billion in sportsbook revenue for operators who have in turn paid states about $1.9 billion in tax revenue which gets reinvested in each of those states.

Now, starting in January, Ohio lawmakers will have finally done what it takes to staunch the outward flow of the black market sports betting revenue by legislatively redirecting it back to where it can fully benefit the Buckeye State.

That process is still unfolding, so keep checking back for all the latest news and updates.