The Ohio Casino Control Commission cleared another major hurdle in its quest to become America’s next great legal sports betting destination on Friday, July 15, 2022. That day officially marked the end of the application process and the naming of 40+ licenses that are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2023.
One of the successful applicants was a recognized name in Bally’s Corporation’s very own mobile sports betting product, Bally Bet. Currently live in New York, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, and Virginia, Bally Bet, through a ground-breaking official sports betting partnership with the Cleveland Browns, is ready to make its mark on the Buckeye State.
Bally’s Corporation hasn’t been shy about its expansion plans and desire to become a dominant force in the exploding U.S. legal mobile sports betting sphere. The company has sports and media partnerships with MLB, the NHL, NBA, and WNBA and individual team partnerships including the Nashville Predators and the big one that Ohioans are talking about, the Cleveland Browns.
The brand’s status as it moves into the Ohio market is at an all-time high. In 2021, the company acquired the third biggest Daily Fantasy Sports provider in the U.S, Monkey Knife Fight, and in 2020 bought out Sinclair Broadcast Group and rebranded 21 regional sports networks under the Bally’s name.
Follow along as we preview just what Ohio bettors can expect from the Bally Bet platform when it finally launches in Ohio in January 2023. Covered in our Bally Bet online review will be a peek into the site’s bonuses, a bit more about the Bally Bet brand itself, more about its impending launch, how to sign up for the Bally Bet experience, its projected banking options, software and security, the look and feel of the software, the sports menu that will be available to Ohio punters, the Bally Bet markets, loyalty program, and customer service options.
Accessibility to a sports betting platform is absolutely crucial and Bally Bet has made it so that you can download the product through a number of means. Bally Bet can be accessed on a desktop computer or any one of your mobile devices for those that like to wager from the comfort of your couch or for those that are on the go.
There are 3 quality download options for the Bally Bet app. You can download an iOS or Android version directly from the Bally Bet site itself, or you can find it at either the App Store or Google Play. The App Store gives Bally Bet an unflattering 3/5 rating. Google Play is slightly better with a 3.4/5 rating.
Our Bally Bet review, for what it’s worth, found these reviews a little harsh.
There will be intense competition for market share in what should be a lucrative Ohio market when the shackles are taken off on January 1. Bally Bet’s attempt to lure new bettors into its fold will likely include their customary $250 deposit match. As long as you are 21 years of age or older and you have registered with the Bally Bet Sportsbook using our link, you should be eligible for this one-time bonus offer.
Bally Bet Ohio Promo Code | Coming Soon |
Bally Bet OH Bonus Offer | $250 Deposit Match (estimate) |
OH License Partner | The Cleveland Browns |
Launch Date | January 2023 (estimate) |
The deposit match simply means that Bally Bet is ready to welcome you to their wagering experience by doubling your first deposit, up to $250.
There will be terms and conditions that apply to this bonus, and as we have seen in other Bally Bet jurisdictions, those requirements can be a tad limiting. You will have 7 days after registering to claim your bonus. Free bets apply to straight wagers, parlays, progressive parlays, props, and teasers.
While seemingly a generous welcome offer, our Bally Bet online review puts the perk in the “average category” of bonuses for those shopping around for sportsbook offers. Some of the heavyweight competition Bally Bet will face in the Ohio market will be coming a whole lot stronger, with a whole lot more value.
The trick for a sportsbook is to reel customers in and keep them there with ongoing incentives. Bally Bet has done a good job of that in the states they currently have a presence in. They should be able to build on that trend when they do go live in Ohio.
Aside from the welcome bonus, Bally Bet will bring with it some ongoing promotions. Our Bally Bet online review found that those promotions vary from state to state. From reload bonuses to contests on some of the bigger sporting events on the calendar, Bally Bet will have something for just about everyone, whether you are a novice or an experienced gambler. Bettors, like in other states, will have to visit promotions pages frequently to maximize the value gain from the Bally Bet site.
Bally’s Corporation is a globally recognized gambling brand that has been around for almost a century. It cut its teeth by opening and running some of North America’s most successful retail casinos. The iconic brand signaled in 2020 its intention to join the U.S. mobile sports betting provider family. It was in 2020 that casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings bought the Bally’s name from Caesars and ran with it.
In 2021, Bally’s officially took over Bet.Works, an elite U.S.-based sports betting platform provider that boasted a proprietary technology stack and turnkey solutions for some of the most successful online gambling brands in the country. It signaled Bally’s commitment at the time to climb the mobile sports betting ladder to become a huge player in the exploding American sports betting scene.
That deal alone made Bally’s “the premier, full-service, vertically integrated sports betting and iGaming company in the U.S. with physical casinos, online gaming solutions, and a B2B2C business model united under a single, preeminent brand”.
It took some time for regulators in the Ohio market to release their list of successful application candidates. As of July 15, 2022, Bally Bet became one of the lucky licensees to get the green light to launch when the platform is ready to go live. That date is January 1, 2023.
There was hope that the start of the 2022-2023 NFL season would be the jumping-off point for the Ohio legal sports betting scene, but it doesn’t look now as if any expedited timeline will come to fruition. A quicker launch date would have been especially helpful to Bally Bet considering the official partnership deal that they signed with the Cleveland Browns in April 2022.
There has been a movement by participating global sportsbooks to streamline their registration processes in order to allow their customers to do what they came there to do – place bets on sporting events! Expect to take 3-5 minutes from start to finish of the registration process in Ohio.
Similar to Bally Bet’s sign-up procedures in other states, Ohio bettors will be expected to:
And voila – you are ready to deposit funds into your account, claim your welcome bonus and commence your Bally Bet sports betting experience.
Bally Bet has been criticized for being slow out of the gate in terms of an expansive banking system. It is becoming a badge of honor for participating sportsbooks in Ohio and elsewhere to announce the most deposit and withdrawal options possible.
Our Bally Bet preview found that the menu of banking options the company will likely bring to Ohio is certainly satisfactory, Sure, cryptocurrency methods haven’t quite made it to the Bally Bet menu, but all of the traditional, dependable deposit and withdrawal options… and more will be there for Ohio bettors to utilize.
Included on that list are expected to be:
So, while not a definitive list, we can see that there is a healthy amount of banking options that will likely be made available to Bally Bet Ohio customers. Again, it may not be the most expansive list, but the favorites are there and should be in place for the January 2023 launch. We, in our testing in other states, found all of these Bally Bet methods to be quick, safe, and painless.
Of note, withdrawal options are just a reverse of the deposit options, excluding credit cards and PayNearMe.
Fees and wait times, like with all other sportsbooks operating in the U.S. legal sports betting industry will vary. From what we have seen in other Bally Bet jurisdictions around the country, those fees and wait times will be competitive with other heavyweights operating in the Ohio scene.
It makes sense to talk about the Bally Bet site security right after discussing its banking options. Our Bally Bet review found that the company takes security very seriously. Bally Bet has cleared stringent licensing and regulatory hurdles in six states that it is currently operational in and has also gained market access in a handful of others, Ohio included.
That alone should put bettors’ minds at ease. But a deeper dive into Bally Bet’s software revealed that the site employs only the best 256-bit SSL encryption technology on their site, from the same safety software providers that have been keeping the personal and banking information of other big-name providers within the expanding industry safe.
Now comes the time for arguably the most important part of a Bally Bet review such as this – the part in which the software and the overall Bally Bet wagering experience is discussed.
As mentioned earlier, Bally Bet’s acquisition and use of Bet.Works definitely helped the brand elevate quickly to become a viable name within the competitive U.S. market, with its own proprietary software.
Bally Bet will be bringing a well-rounded and impressive overall platform to Ohio.
As far as the interface itself, Bally Bet offers both desktop and mobile versions that can be downloaded on your favorite iOS and Android devices.
Our Bally Bet review was greeted by an extremely clean and lean betting interface, free of some of the unnecessary clutter that is all too common in the online casino business. The color scheme of the Bally Bet app is that of a modern and streamlined product, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
The lack of busyness should play well in the brand-new Ohio market that will be featuring a host of novice bettors, as well as seasoned gamblers. Each will likely appreciate simplicity, and the ultimate omission of information not pertinent to their individualized betting experience.
In tests with the Bally Bet brand in other states, we found the software to be responsive, intuitive, and extremely easy to use. The “lack of clutter” allows for directions to easily be sought out on the site and for those instructions, whether it be on how to populate a bet slip, or how to accomplish a parlay bet, to be clear and concise.
So, while not quite yet an elite sports betting interface, Bally Bet is able to check most, if not all of the boxes necessary to become a viable sports betting option in the Ohio market. While we loved the simplicity, others may not.
Overall, our Bally Bet online review is sure that the Ohio market will respond favorably, as we did, to Bally Bet’s, well laid-out, simple, and effective sportsbook offering.
As an established gambling provider in the U.S. market, Bally Bet has taken its experience and has created a very good menu of sports for Ohio bettors to consider. While not the best, we have seen in the broader American industry, this Bally Bet online review found all of the greatest hits… plus more available to place a wager on – both professional and college.
It is our expectation that the menu grows, maybe even in time for the launch of the Ohio platform in January 2023.
For now, Ohio bettors can expect to be able to bet on:
Most, if not all markets that will be popular for the average Ohio bettor are present on the Bally Bet site. A handy “search” function certainly helps bettors find the markets they are after.
It has become incumbent upon sports betting providers to establish a healthy menu of markets or bet types in which their customers can participate in. Our Bally Bet review scoured existing states with which they have a presence and is sure that Ohio will have a healthy amount of bet types to consider.
Included on that list are:
Bally Bet has been quick to adopt and maintain all of the necessary bet types in order to be considered a major player in the broad U.S. legal sports betting industry. In this case, quantity meets quality in terms of bet types offered by the brand.
One head-scratching, underwhelming aspect to the Bally Bet markets is its live betting options. Considering that Bally Bet employs Bet.Works technology and that Bally’s Corporation owns 21 independent TV networks, the live betting options fell a bit flat in our Bally Bet online review.
Necessary real-time stats and information were not readily available in our tests and the number of live betting opportunities during our tour lagged behind some of the high-level competition they face in present markets, and ones they will be up against in Ohio.
We are willing to give Bally Bet a bit of a pass with regard to their live betting with the hopes they improve upon a bet type that is quickly taking over the U.S. legal sports betting landscape.
One thing that set the company apart in our Bally Bet online review was their comprehensive Reward/Loyalty program, one that will surely be made available to punters in Ohio. How serious does Bally Bet take their Rewards program? They offer two options – Bally Rewards and Trophy Case! Both are an evolution of a program offered at Bally’s casinos that have been operational for decades.
Bally Rewards offers rewards points for every dollar that sports bettors spend on the Bally Bet app. Simply put, the more you play, the more points are earned. Points earned can be redeemed for free bets or cash that can be used at Bally’s properties across the country for gambling, dining, merchandise, and more.
Trophy Case is a little more creative. “Trophies” are awarded for gamblers willing to take a little more risk on long-shot bets and parlays. Like Bally’s Rewards, Trophy Case grants credits for winning bets.
Diving deeper, our Bally Bet review found the terms, conditions, and overall activity necessary to make a difference in a bettors’ account pretty limiting. You have to bet a lot and have some success doing so in order to bear the fruits of the Bally Bet Rewards program.
But at least Bally Bet has one!
Bally’s Corporation’s experience as a gambling provider is shown in their focus on customer service. The app offers every support option necessary to prove to us that they take customer queries/concerns seriously.
Available Bally Bet customer service options include:
In our tests, all concerns were handled promptly in a friendly, professional fashion. Bally Bet is poised to bring one of the better customer service focuses to the Ohio market.