Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company Secures Approval for Sports Betting Licenses

Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, the only resort, entertainment and media company centered around the power of professional football, announced that it has taken the next step toward live sports betting by securing conditional approval from the state for mobile and retail sports books.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission provided the required authorization for HOFV to gain licensing for a physical sports operation – called a sportsbook – as well as an online betting platform, under Ohio’s sports betting law HB29. Sports betting will become legal in Ohio on New Year’s Day, 2023, when anyone in the state that is of legal betting age will be able to place wagers.

“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, HOFV president and chief executive officer. “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.”

HOFV previously announced 10-year partnerships with Rush Street Interactive, Inc. (“RSI”) (NYSE: RSI) as its official retail sports-betting partner and Betr, founded by sports betting veteran Joey Levy and media mogul Jake Paul, as its official mobile sports-betting partner.

The HOFV/RSI retail sportsbook will be named “BetRivers Sportsbook” and will be located at the Hall of Fame Village’s Fan Engagement Zone, a sports and entertainment-themed promenade. The Fan Engagement Zone will offer rooftop views of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and will be an active hub for guests to go before, during and after events to have fun, dine, and socialize. BetRivers will provide fans a new and enhanced way to interact with their favorite sports, all conveniently from the HOFV campus in Canton, Ohio.

The HOFV/Betr mobile sportsbook will help further enhance the fan experience by offering consumers a seamless way to place their bets online throughout Ohio. The Betr app, already ranked in the top 10 Top Free Apps in the sports category in the Apple App Store for iPhone, takes sports prop betting to a whole new level by introducing microbetting, which will enable consumers to bet on nearly every moment of every live sporting event – from pitches and at-bats, plays and drives, shots and possessions – all done simply and instantly from the palm of their hand. Consumers can download the Betr app today to try the free-to-play version, make practice bets, and Ohioans can get ready for sports betting in the Buckeye state in 2023.