Ohio Closed the Betting Gap on Border Towns Like Martins Ferry Faster Than Anyone Expected
Trending
Martins Ferry sits close enough to the West Virginia line that plenty of Belmont County residents have spent years driving across the Ohio River to Wheeling for a legal sports bet, back when Ohio hadn’t yet passed its own law. That changed on January 1, 2023, when Ohio’s sportsbooks went live statewide, and the state’s numbers since then say a lot about pent-up demand in border communities like this one. In under three years, Ohio bettors have wagered close to $31 billion through licensed operators, more than any state except New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, most of which have had a legal market for years longer. Readers who want to see exactly how that stacks up against every other state can check the full US sportsbooks revenue data currently tracked across every regulated market.
A Border Town That Didn’t Have to Wait Long, Once Ohio Caught Up
Martins Ferry’s location has always shaped how residents access things that are legal on one side of the river and not the other, and sports betting was no exception for the five years between West Virginia’s 2018 launch and Ohio’s own arrival. What’s notable is how fast Ohio’s market caught up once it opened. Sportsbooks here have kept roughly $3.3 billion of that $31 billion in wagers as gross gaming revenue, at a hold rate of about 10.7%, slightly above the national average, and the state has collected north of $611 million in tax revenue from that activity, according to figures the state’s own gaming regulator publishes monthly. That tax total ranks Ohio fifth nationally, ahead of states that have had legal sports betting for far longer.
Why the Ohio Valley Cares About the Details, Not Just the Headline Number
For a river town like Martins Ferry, the practical questions have always been about access and product, not abstract market size. Ohio requires all sportsbook apps to be licensed through the Casino Control Commission, with a 20% tax rate on adjusted gross revenue that’s actually higher than several neighboring states, including Indiana and West Virginia. That structure means Ohio’s sportsbooks operate under some of the stricter revenue-sharing terms in the region, which shows up in how aggressively operators compete on promotions to attract bettors who, in a border community like this one, genuinely have a choice of which state’s apps to use if they’re willing to cross back into West Virginia. Ohio’s own hold rate, sitting a bit above the 9.1% national figure, reflects a market still working through the growth spike that came with December’s World Cup betting surge and the general run-up that accompanies a newer, fast-expanding state.
How This Compares to How Much Sportsbooks Earn Nationally
Nationally, sports betting hit a record $16.96 billion in revenue in 2025, according to one national sports outlet’s coverage from the American Gaming Association, and Ohio’s own growth has tracked well above that national pace since launch. Ohio’s roughly $31 billion handle over less than three years already outpaces states like Indiana and Colorado, which have both been operating for six years or more, a gap that reflects both Ohio’s larger population and the aggressive marketing push that accompanied its 2023 launch, when nearly every major operator ran signup promotions simultaneously to capture new bettors statewide.
What the Numbers Mean for Someone Betting from the Ohio Side of the River
For a Martins Ferry bettor, the practical upshot is that Ohio’s sportsbooks now compete directly with the Wheeling market across the river on odds and promotions rather than existing as the only local option, which wasn’t true before 2023. That competitive pressure, in a border community where residents can genuinely choose either state, tends to work in the bettor’s favor more than it does in markets without a nearby alternative. It also means Belmont County residents no longer have much practical reason to cross the bridge just to place a bet, since Ohio’s own market now covers the same games, the same operators in most cases, and comparable promotional offers.
The paper’s own coverage this month has tracked plenty of other local economic developments too, including Belmont County’s recent conversation on growth priorities, which we covered when DeFelice talked economic development at a recent meet-and-greet. Ohio’s sports betting market is still young relative to states like New Jersey or Nevada, but for a border town like Martins Ferry, the last three years have changed which side of the river actually has the better deal, and not many people noticed it happening.