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Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman told the Statehouse News Bureau in early October that he believes online casinos and the iLottery in Ohio likely won’t have a chance at legalization until 2027.
Huffman’s comments came as legislators weighed the possibility of online gambling amid a flurry of failed online casino bills proposed during the 2025 legislative session.
Huffman urges caution as Ohio considers online casino legalization
Ohio is among the top gaming states in the country, one of just a handful that have generated at least $1 billion in sports betting handle in a single month. The state’s success with mobile sports wagering might suggest a strong market for online casinos as well.
Real-money online casinos offer states far more tax revenue than sports betting, as revenue margins for online casinos tend to be much higher than those for sports wagering platforms.
However, it’s that very online gambling boom that makes Huffman hesitant to expand gaming further.
“At some point, there is a saturation point—there’s a group of people who don’t gamble, there’s a group of people who do, maybe some people participate in different ways,” Huffman said in a post by the Statehouse News Bureau.
Huffman isn’t alone in his apprehension about iGaming. Gov. Mike DeWine has also said he wants no part of online casinos during his term, which ends in January 2027.
Earlier this year, DeWine told reporters he didn’t think it was a good idea to give Ohioans 24/7 phone access to casino gaming.
Experts say Ohio could gain over $500M yearly from legal iGaming
If Ohio were to legalize online gambling, GamingToday‘s revenue projections — based on August figures from the seven states that offer online casinos — indicate Ohio could rank among the top three states in monthly revenue.
| State | August 2025 | Population | Per-capita revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $231,200,000 | 13,078,751 | $17.68 | |
| Michigan | $247,200,000 | 10,140,459 | $24.38 | |
| New Jersey | $248,400,000 | 9,500,851 | $26.15 | |
| Connecticut | $49,800,000 | 3,675,069 | $13.55 | |
| West Virginia | $30,100,000 | 1,769,979 | $17.01 | |
| Delaware | $9,500,000 | 1,051,917 | $9.03 | |
| Rhode Island | $4,800,000 | 1,112,308 | $4.32 | |
| Total | $821,000,000 | 40,329,334 | $20.36 | |
| Ohio (projected) | $240,236,761 | 11,799,448 | $20.36 |
If the state averaged a conservative $200 million per month in online casino revenue and lawmakers applied the 20% tax rate currently used for Ohio online sportsbooks, the Buckeye State could generate as much as $480 million per year.
That number could be even higher. States with larger populations tend to generate greater per-person online casino revenue. Based on averages from Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Ohio online casinos could generate a monthly average of at least $220 million. In that scenario, the state could bring in more than $520 million annually, assuming the same 20% tax rate.
