While full details on the proposed legislation have not yet been released at the time of reporting, DeWine said the commission would consist of appointees chosen by the governor and both the majority and minority parties of the Ohio legislature. The state’s share of any project would be capped at 40% of total cost.
DeWine’s administration estimated that the proposed tax hike, levied on the sportsbooks and potentially passed on to bettors, would generate between $130 million to $180 million per year.
A portion of that same fund would go toward offsetting some of the pay-to-play costs Ohio students face with school sports and other academic extracurricular activities, DeWine told reporters.
“No longer will we have to, at any time in the future, go to the people of the state of Ohio and say, ‘Your tax dollars will go to this stadium or that stadium,’” DeWine said. “I believe our professional sports in Ohio are very valuable to us — I think it’s part of our quality of life — but this gives us an opportunity not to have to take general fund dollars away from education or something else and to be able to actually fund these in the future.”
“Plus,” he added, “we’re going to be able to help our young people be healthier and participate in sports. I think it’s a win, win, win.”
DeWine’s policy comes as the Cleveland Browns trudge forward with a plan to move out of their 25-year-old Downtown Cleveland stadium and build a $2.4 billion, dome-style arena and entertainment complex in Brook Park, 12 miles south of downtown Cleveland. Franchise owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are seeking a public-private partnership to fund construction.
In a prior partnership to construct the Columbus Crew’s new Lower.com Field after purchasing the club, the Haslams received a reported $20 million from the state and another $25 million state-funded loan, along with $51.3 million in bonds paid for by Franklin County, according to Columbus Monthly. They also raised over $200 million in private investment.
DeWine’s pitch is baked into his proposed state operating budget, which sets the state’s spending policy over the next two years. The budget is a piece of legislation that starts with the governor, goes to the Ohio House, then the Ohio Senate, and often tweaks various tax rates and sets up built-to-purpose funds for generated tax revenue.
The idea saw immediate skepticism from Ohio House Finance Chair Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, who’s tasked with overseeing the House’s deliberations of DeWine’s budget.
“It’s going to be an interesting discussion. I mean, look, speaking for myself, we started out with a 10% tax on sports gaming; we’ve not even finished two football seasons and now we’re talking about quadrupling that tax,” Stewart said.
Stewart also raised concerns about entrusting decisions of that magnitude to an unelected board, as DeWine proposed.
“Should those decisions be made here in the legislature? ... The governor’s budget kind of proposes that we would outsource this to an unelected commission. That, I think, is going to generate quite a bit of discussion as well.”
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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