Chris Maggiore talks excitedly about the impact legalized sports betting will have on his Jerzee’s sports bars in the Akron-Canton area.
Betting kiosks will be available to make wagers on Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers games ― and also for huge events like the college football playoffs and the Super Bowl. Large high-end television screens will post the odds on sporting events. Other screens will broadcast football, basketball and baseball games. And trained employees will answer questions about how the machines work and payouts are collected.
“People are going to have many options to bet on sports,” said Maggiore, who is also rearranging the layout of his bars to accommodate the betting terminals. “We offer as close to a sportsbook atmosphere as you can.”
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Jerzee’s will be among about 1,000 licensed kiosk locations throughout Ohio, including about 30 in Stark County and 50 in Summit County. Another 400 businesses have been pre-approved for kiosk licenses. They will be at bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and even grocery stores ― meaning people won’t have to travel far to place a sports bet starting Jan. 1 as Ohio joins more than 30 other states with legalized sports betting.
Sports betting marks the latest in Ohio’s evolution of legalized gambling, from the introduction of state-operated lotteries decades ago to the more recent casinos and racinos. And sports gaming is coming big and fast.
“To our knowledge, when we launch on Jan. 1, (Ohio) will have the largest simultaneous launch of sports gaming in the United States,” said Jessica Franks, spokesperson for the Ohio Casino Control Commission. “And that’s because we’re going to have both online, in-person and the sheer number of those kiosks at the bars and restaurants and those kinds of places. In a lot of states, they’ve staggered that launch.”
Where to place a sports bet in Canton and Stark County
Coaches Burger Bar, Fricker’s, Winking Lizard Tavern, Hooley House Sports Pub & Grill and Brubaker’s Pub are licensed to offer the kiosks at multiple locations. Grocery stores like Giant Eagle have been approved for sports gaming terminals at a dozen locations, including Alliance, North Canton, Stow, Parma and Youngstown, while Kroger has been approved for more than 30.
Some counties won’t have nearly as many kiosks available as others. Some apparently won’t have any when wagering begins next year. In early December, the Wooster area didn’t have any businesses approved to offer the kiosks, although the Buehler’s grocery store chain and a few other establishments have been pre-approved to host the betting terminals, according to Ohio Casino Control Commission records.
In-person retail sports betting venues also can open in the state next year, including at MGM Northfield Park in Summit County, through Cleveland’s professional sports franchises, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Cincinnati Reds and at Ohio casinos. The Hall of Fame Village’s BetRivers sportsbook site in Canton isn’t scheduled to open until summer.
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Mobile sports wagering on cellphones also kicks off Jan. 1 across the state, including bets on who will score the next touchdown in football, whether the team will run or pass the ball, and if a basketball player will make a two-point or three-point basket as a game unfolds in real time. The Hall of Fame Village is among the entities partnering with a mobile sports betting service.
‘It’s sort of like building the airplane as you’re flying.’
Last year’s passage of sports betting legislation has left both kiosk operators and the public with numerous questions about how the latest form of gambling will be regulated and how it will work.
Both the Ohio Casino Control Commission and Ohio Lottery Commission have been busy in an effort to ensure both the businesses and the gaming kiosk providers know what the regulations are for operating the equipment, how to train and certify staff, what financial records should be maintained, where warnings should be posted about gambling addiction, and various other compliance rules.
Kim Shapiro, who operates TD’s Tailgate Grill in North Canton, said the sports bar doesn’t expect to have its kiosks delivered and operating until around mid January. Everything has been happening fast, she said.
“What I’ve been told is most places won’t have them until closer to the end of January,” Shapiro said earlier this month. “It’s sort of like building the airplane as you’re flying. It hasn’t been done before, and there’s a lot of kinks to work out, and as new things come up, there’s five more questions about it.”
Rules changed from allowing one kiosk to no more than two per approved business, said Shapiro, whose sports bar will have select television screens devoted to odds and sports betting lines with a ticker scrolling updates and sports news.
Giant Eagle, meanwhile, didn’t have a firm timeline for opening sports betting due to the availability of the kiosks, said Stacey L. Vaselaney, a public relations representative for the grocery store chain.
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Giant Eagle’s Alliance location, however, is not part of the chain’s initial 12-store pilot rollout.
“We are excited by the opportunity to introduce the convenience of sports betting kiosks in select supermarket locations in 2023,” Vaselaney said in a prepared statement.
Kiosks (also known as terminals) at bars and restaurants will be restricted to four types of wagers − spreads, over-unders, money lines and parlays.
Specific kiosk machines, and how they work, also will vary depending on the vendor.
Mike Sylvester, owner of Hide-A-Way Buffalo Grill in northeast Canton, said customers already can play the lottery and Keno at his restaurant and bar.
“It was just the next step to help us out to keep the draw of customers coming in the door,” he said of sports betting.
“Hopefully, I’ll do well with it, but you never know how it’s going to work out,” Sylvester added.
Sylvester said he hopes that sports betting kiosks don’t expand to most gas stations and convenience stores like what’s happened with lottery tickets. Kiosks are available to for-profit businesses that sell Ohio Lottery tickets while holding one of three types of permits for alcohol sales.
“My concern is the profit margin is getting smaller, the product getting watered down if you put the kiosks everywhere,” he said.
You can’t bet more than $700 at a kiosk
Maggiore, of Jerzee’s, said gambling winners at his sports bars will be able to walk out with cash.
But based on the types of bets allowed, Shapiro at TD’s Tailgate doesn’t expect the prizes to be in the thousands of dollars. And if winnings get too big, bettors have options for collecting their money, including at regional Ohio Lottery offices.
State law requires that a self-service terminal or clerk not accept wagers totaling more than $700 in a calendar week from individual gamblers. All equipment is also tested to ensure that wagering controls are working, said Danielle Frizzi-Babb, a spokesperson for the Ohio Lottery Commission.
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Cash payouts have been a concern expressed by some Ohio business owners where kiosks will be operating. With a lot of cash on hand, bars and restaurants could be potential targets for thefts and robberies, some bar and restaurant owners have said.
Maggiore said he’s not overly worried about that possibility because winners also will have the option of accepting a credit voucher to be cashed in later at any of the Jerzee’s locations.
“We’re always busy and have a lot of people at our places,” he said. “And a lot of staff, and we’re always concerned for staff safety … but (customers) have other options and can come back different times (and use credit vouchers at the different Jerzee’s locations) if they don’t want to walk out with cash.”
Shapiro, meanwhile, said she chose a kiosk company that offers payout options so her sports bar doesn’t have to keep a lot of cash on site.
She also expects serious gamblers to use a mobile sports betting app or to go to one of the Las Vegas-style retail sites.
“I’m not expecting there to be a line of people coming in just to make sports bets on our terminals,” Shapiro said. “I don’t really think anybody thinks that’s how it’s going to be.”
‘This is supposed to be people coming in and having a good time.’
Maggiore said sports betting should be a good time.
“This is supposed to be a social experience, an enhancement,” he said. “(State legislators) and (Ohio Senator) Kirk Schuring did a great job of crafting a bill to make sure all these safeguards are in place. This is supposed to be people coming in and having a good time and betting what they can afford to bet.”
Sylvester said he hopes sports betting offers another way for customers to enjoy themselves.
“I can see a couple ordering drinks and dinner and they say, ‘Let’s go ahead and bet on the basketball game while we’re here while it’s on TV’ … and make an experience out of it,” he said. “I have that with the Keno board. I have regular (customers) who come in and sit down and order dinner and have a couple of drinks and play a little Keno while they’re here, and when dinner’s over, they check their Keno tickets and go home.”
Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com
On Twitter @ebalintREP
