National grocery chain Kroger has installed kiosks in a handful of its 2,800 stories to allow customers to place bets on sporting events.
Numerous outlets had reported that the company had been approved in 2022 to get the sports betting kiosks installed and operational in its Ohio stores, though they generally noted, as did Cincinnati’s WKRC, that the company didn’t expect them to be operational until “at least this spring.”
Apparently, it took a little longer than that.
On Thursday, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported that the company had “installed sports betting kiosks that are now operating in 20 Greater Cincinnati and Dayton stores.”
Ohio had issued Kroger, which WKRC noted was the largest supermarket chain in the U.S., a total of 42 licenses for the kiosks as part of a program that began on Jan. 1, 2023, to allow betting kiosks in locations like bars, bowling alleys, restaurants and supermarkets.
The “Type C” licenses required applicants to first have licenses to sell alcohol and Ohio Lottery tickets, according to SBC Americas, a gambling industry website. A recommendation from the Ohio Casino Control Commission was also needed.
Kroger had received several licenses before the first of last year, but had delayed the launch of the kiosks until it could “finalizing its sports betting strategy.”
Ohio had approved over 1,000 organizations, including Kroger, to set up the kiosks, the outlet noted.
SBC Americas had earlier estimated that the sports gambling industry could grow to between $9 and $12 billion annually by 2025 in Ohio alone.
Should betting kiosks be legal in grocery stores?
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Ohio was less optimistic in its estimates, however, according to an August, 2022, report from the Dayton Daily News that said the state had estimated the growth of the industry to achieve “$3.35 billion within a few years.”
Greg Romer, owner of a sports bar in Bellbrook, a Dayton suburb, said then that sports gambling in a sports bar is a natural fit.
“We welcome people to come in and obviously stick around,” Romer told the Daily News. “That’s part of the motivation for having it.
“People can come in and bet on a football or basketball game and sit and watch it,” he added.
Romer’s had previously installed Keno and “other Ohio Lottery games,” and said they had been a successful addition to his business.
The Supreme Court in 2018 struck down 1992’s “Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act,” calling it unconstitutional thereby allowing states to legalize sports gambling.
At that time, the American Gaming Association estimated that Americans gambled roughly $150 billion annually on sporting events, even while it was still illegal, ESPN reported.
“Today’s ruling makes it possible for states and sovereign tribal nations to give Americans what they want: an open, transparent, and responsible market for sports betting,” president and CEO of the American Gaming Association Geoff Freeman said in a statement after the ruling was handed down.
“Through smart, efficient regulation this new market will protect consumers, preserve the integrity of the games we love, empower law enforcement to fight illegal gambling, and generate new revenue for states, sporting bodies, broadcasters and many others,” he predicted.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of “WJ Live,” powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
