Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, has urged the Casino Control Commission to prohibit prop bets, removing them from the legal list of bets that can be placed under the state’s contractual rules for operators.
The Governor’s request follows the scandal involving Guardian pitchers, Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, who have been sent on paid leave through to the end of August following separate gambling probes.
A proposition bet (prop bet) is a set wager on a player or team that is not necessarily related to the full outcome of the game.
Investigations into Ortiz and Clase emerged after betting patterns were flagged to IC360, with the former incident centered on pitches on June 15 at Seattle, and on June 27 against St Louis. The alarm was also raised with sportsbook platforms.
The latter emerged more recently with an MLB statement confirming an investigation had been launched.
IC360 is a gambling integrity monitoring body that routinely cooperates with the top sports leagues, including the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL, as well as college conferences and an array of sportsbook operators.
The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass. A particular problem is with micro prop bets – prop bets on highly specific events within games that are completely controlled by one player.
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— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 31, 2025
Evidence is reaching critical mass, says Ohio Governor
Now, Gov. Mike DeWine has applied pressure to the relevant sports commissioners and labor unions for prop bets to be struck off the permitted list to “ensure the integrity” of the respective leagues.
He specifically called out the proliferation of micro prop bets and the damage caused, given the control that an individual player has on these events.
“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass, stated DeWine.
“First, there were threats on Ohio athletes, and now two high-profile Ohio professional athletes have been suspended by Major League Baseball as part of a ‘sports betting investigation,’” said the Governor.
“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm. The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct this problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace.”
Mike DeWine previously approached the subject when student athletes at the University of Dayton received death threats over prop bets. He took a stand with NCAA President Charlie Barker in February last year to blast the impact on college sports and the need for the Ohio Casino Control Commission to enact change.
The same message has been renewed.
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