Hall Of Fame Village Eyes Sports Betting in 2023
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The Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company which owns and operates the Hall of Fame Village (HOFV) has secured conditional approval to launch sportsbooks at their resort, located in Canton, Ohio.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has been working around the clock lately to get operators and sportsbooks approved ahead of the Jan. 1 sports betting launch in the Buckeye State. Amidst this, they provided the required authorization for HOFV at a meeting on Nov. 2, to gain licensing for both a retail sportsbook and a mobile sportsbook.
“The legalization of sports betting in Ohio, opens up a breadth of opportunity across our company’s three business verticals and for our fans,” said Michael Crawford, CEO and President of HOFV.
BetRivers and Betr Secure Deals
HOFV formally announced that Rush Street Interactive, the operator of BetRivers Sportsbook, would be their partner for the retail sportsbook, and newly-founded Betr would be their partner for launching its mobile sportsbook.
Rush Street Interactive and HOFV announced their 10-year partnership in December 2021 just one day after Ohio legalized sports betting. It made Rush Street Interactive the premier sports betting operator in the Canton-based resort. The retail sportsbook will be located in the HOFV Fan Engagement Zone.
“We will have the only physical sports book in Stark County and the first dedicated sports microbetting platform via the Betr mobile app, bringing fans and guests a multitude of different and new ways to experience sports entertainment,” Crawford said.
The company announced in August that it entered into a 10-year mobile sports betting partnership with Betr, to make it the official online sports betting partner of the HOFV. Betr is a micro-betting platform, the first of its kind in Ohio.
HOFV’s initial press release announcing the Betr partnership describes micro-betting as a “form of betting that introduces instant gratification to the user’s experience by enabling the moments that drive U.S. sports consumption – such as pitches and at-bats of baseball games and plays and drives of football games – to become discrete betting opportunities, as well as simplifying the user experience.”
.@HOFRECO Secures Approval for Sports Betting Licenses ✅ The #HOFV BetRivers Sportsbook location will be the only physical sports book in Stark County, while @betr will offer the first direct-to-consumer platform solely dedicated to sports micro betting in Ohio. https://t.co/EBztrnNqwa
— Hall of Fame Village (@HOFVillage) November 2, 2022
Ohio Sports Betting Update
In December 2021, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill that legalized both mobile and retail sports betting, as well as betting on collegiate sports.
The bill creates the potential for dozens of sportsbooks to enter the state via three different types of license. There are 25 Type A licenses available for online sportsbooks. Type B licenses will be issued to retail sportsbooks (40 maximum), and Type C licenses are reserved for places like grocery stores, bars, and restaurants who want to offer sports betting kiosks.
At the Nov. 2 meeting, the OCCC approved several operators for licensing. This list includes BetRivers for a mobile sportsbook at Hollywood Dayton and several other sportsbook operators and proprietors.
The biggest slew of applicants comes from the Type C pool which, through Oct. 28, has seen 1,412 businesses get pre-approved.
The commission has urged interested applicants to apply as soon as possible if they want to be a part of the Jan. 1 launch in Ohio.
