Ohio bars and bowling alleys are urging Ohio lawmakers to let them in on the action as elected leaders debate how to legalize sports betting across the state.

They have an uphill fight.

The state House continued hearings last week on a bill that would allow sports betting run by the Ohio Lottery Commission at Ohio’s four casinos and seven racinos and at the sites of fraternal and veterans organizations. It would not permit such betting at bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, convenience stores or other businesses with lottery terminals.

A bill in the Senate also would not permit those businesses to host sports betting; it instead would limit the betting to casinos and racinos under the control of the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Get the news delivered to your inbox: Sign up for our politics newsletter

“The ability to be able to offer additional entertainment options has become a key factor in our business,” Joe Poelking, who owns three bowling centers in the Dayton area, said in a House committee hearing on House Bill 194.

Adding sports betting to his lottery Keno machines, Poelking said, “would create a much-needed boost to our businesses, a boost that we could use to keep our patrons in our bowling centers a little longer.”

The question of where sports betting should be permitted in Ohio is a key part of the debate over how Ohio proceeds in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that opened the door to legalization of sports betting nationwide.

Eric Schippers, a top lobbyist for Penn National Gaming, which owns four gambling facilities in Ohio, including Hollywood Casino Columbus, recently told a House committee that it is “critical” that sports betting be limited to casinos and racetrack operators.

“We have well-established, rigorous compliance and responsible gaming protocols in place to ensure a safe wagering environment for consumers,” Schippers said.

Key lawmakers are reluctant to spread sports betting to hundreds or even thousands of locations across the state. When Gov. Mike DeWine indicated last week that he favors having the Casino Control Commission oversee sports betting, as the Senate proposes, that did not bode well for the hopes of bar owners and others.

Talking about the issue earlier this year, Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, noted that lawmakers acted a few years ago to shut down internet cafes.

“The Senate was not supportive of having a significant expansion of gaming all across the state,” he said. “I’m on safe ground predicting that would still be the opinion of the majority of my caucus today.”

Sen. John Eklund, R-Chardon, the sponsor of Senate Bill 111, that chamber's sports betting bill, said wagering on sports is much more sophisticated than picking numbers in a traditional lottery or Keno game.

“If we are to allow it in Ohio, it must be carefully controlled to maintain the integrity of the underlying sporting events and the wagering itself,” Eklund wrote recently, arguing that casinos and racinos would set aside special sports betting locations under the watch of state gaming agents.

“Sports wagering simply does not belong in every convenience store and gas station in Ohio.”

Andrew Herf, executive director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, which represents alcohol-permit holders, said that if sports betting is legalized, it’s quickly going to be expanded across the state via millions of mobile devices.

Bars, bowling alleys and other locations could offer sports betting through new touch-screen lottery terminals or by adding games to Keno machines, Herf said.

“Why wouldn’t they have some system to reward the people who’ve been committed to the lottery for decades?” he said. “Why wouldn’t you want that proven marketing stream churning money for the state? It seems like a blind spot in the policymaking.”

Expanding betting locations also could benefit casinos, Herf said, because bars would offer games run by other bookmakers, potentially including Ohio’s casino operators.

Roughly 3,000 bars have lottery terminals, but Herf said if the legislature didn’t want to go that far, it could set limits, such as granting sports betting to the biggest sellers of lottery tickets.

Rep. David Greenspan, R-Westlake, sponsor of the House sports betting bill, isn’t convinced that bars need to run the games themselves once mobile betting is established.

“They can run whatever marketing and promotional activities to draw people in, with or without the sports gaming equipment they’re talking about,” he said.

Greenspan, who hopes to see the House pass his bill this month, said he has told bar owners that if they get enough legislative support, he won’t oppose adding bars to the bill.

Herf said that those who bet via cellphones are different from those who want to use a terminal in a bar or other business.

“We believe that people who place bets on games watch more, stay longer, and that’s really the upside for bars in Ohio,” he said.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

@phrontpage