PlayOhio covers all things gambling in Ohio. Here’s who we are, how we operate and how to get in touch.
Contact us
Catena Media
11700 W. Charleston Blvd. No. 170-520
Las Vegas, NV 89135
646-543-0245
Who are the writers for PlayOhio?
Every person who writes for PlayOhio is either a full-time employee of Catena Media or a carefully vetted freelance writer. We do not accept submissions from guest writers or publish any unsolicited external content.
Meet the team!
Managing Editor: Danny Cross
Danny Cross is the managing editor of PlayOhio. He previously worked as an editor at Pro Football Focus and spent over a decade at a newsweekly in Cincinnati. He earned an English degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s in Journalism from the University of Oregon.
Senior Lead Writer: Matthew Kredell
Matthew Kredell has covered efforts to legalize and regulate online gambling since 2007. A USC journalism alum, Matt started his career as a sportswriter at the Los Angeles Daily News and has written on a variety of topics for Playboy, Men’s Journal, Los Angeles magazine, LA Weekly and ESPN.com.
Lead Writer: Steve Friess
Steve Friess is the national gambling industry correspondent for PlayOhio. He is also a contributing writer for Newsweek. A Long Island native who earned a journalism degree at Northwestern University, Friess worked at newspapers in Rockford, Illinois, Las Vegas, and South Florida before launching a freelance career in Beijing, China, where he served as chief China correspondent for USA Today. He returned to Las Vegas in 2003, corresponding for The New York Times, Playboy, The New Republic, Time, Portfolio, BusinessWeek, Newsweek and New York magazine. In 2011-12, Friess was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. He then worked at Politico in Washington, D.C., before returning permanently to Ann Arbor in 2013.
Staff Writer: Jake Garza
Jake Garza is a US Gambling Industry Analyst for Catena Media. He specializes in Midwest sports betting and casino content. Prior to covering the legal gambling industry, he spent time as a professional sports writer, reporting on teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers. Garza is currently working as a Staff Writer for PlayOhio, with previous stops at other well-known brands such as PlayIllinois, PlayMichigan and PlayIndiana. He has been covering the gambling industry since 2019.
Head of Production: Kim Yuhl
Kim Yuhl has a decade of experience writing about poker culture, the online gambling industry, and the legalization of sports betting.
Senior Content Manager: Matt Schoch
A Michigan native, Matt Schoch has worked as a sports writer at newspapers in Michigan, Missouri and the Virgin Islands. He’s covered everything from high schools to the Olympics. Schoch is also the former host of a Detroit Pistons podcast and producer of the documentary, “Ypsi’s Emoni.” A former blackjack dealer, Schoch has studied the industry from all sides.
Content Manager: Andrew Champagne
Andrew Champagne is an award-winning writer and horse racing handicapper. Originally from upstate New York, he now resides in Concord, California.
Contributor: Tyler Andrews
Tyler Andrews has covered sports, art, and entertainment both in the US and abroad. He began his career covering Southern California sports before branching into the national sports market. He spent four years in Barcelona, covering FC Barcelona football as well as art and entertainment in the Catalan capital. Tyler, a Las Vegas native, is a graduate of both Cal State Long Beach and Chapman University. He currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and family where, when he’s not chasing after his two daughters, he goes to concerts with his wife, collects comic books, and roots for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Contributor: Rashid Mohamed
Rashid Mohamed is a sportswriter based in Denver, Colo. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and an associate degree in journalism. Rashid enjoys covering sporting events and the sports betting industry.
Contributor: Mike Breen
Mike Breen covers Ohio’s budding sports betting industry for PlayOhio, focusing on online sportsbooks and the state’s responsible gambling initiatives. He has over two decades of experience covering sports, news, music, arts and culture in Ohio.
Contributor: JR Duren
JR Duren has covered the Ohio, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey gambling beats for Catena Media. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun. Duren is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest and has written for several newspapers in Florida and California.
What is PlayOhio?
PlayOhio is a news organization. Catena Media owns and operates PlayOhio. Catena is an international media organization traded publicly on the NASDAQ Nordic. Our network is interested in news and information about legal sports betting in the United States.
The PlayOhio mission
PlayOhio exists to help Ohio gamblers maximize their experience with the gambling activities legally available to them in the state. We provide up-to-date news coverage and a series of informational pages to serve that purpose.
We also provide bonus offers and welcome promotions related to legal gambling in Ohio.
How we write
First, we source all of our information as close to its point of origin as possible. If we report about existing Ohio laws, we base our explanations on the relevant language in the Ohio Revised Code. If there is a story about a potential new gambling law, we often speak with the authoring lawmaker about the bill. For news about wrongdoing related to Ohio gambling, we speak with Ohio Casino Control Commission officials or other regulators and members of law enforcement primarily involved with the matter.
Second, we focus on verifiable and fact-based reporting. We do not publish gossip, hearsay, or other information from sources that we cannot independently verify. We are not in the business of stirring up drama or speculating about unverifiable rumors. Our aim is to report accurate and trustworthy news and information about Ohio gambling in an objective manner.
Third, everything we write undergoes rigorous examination by copy editors, content managers and other staff members to confirm both its factual accuracy and grammatical soundness. Finally, the managing editor of the site, Danny Cross, personally reviews almost every word that appears on PlayOhio in order to lend his years of experience to the process.
Our final step is always listening to you, the reader. Our end goal is truthful and accurate reporting. Let us know if we’ve gotten something wrong or if something is unclear about our reporting. You can read more about our editorial guidelines here.
Come work for us!
Ohio gambling is on the rise, and so are we! If you have a passion for games of chance, live in Ohio, and have proven writing experience, we want to hear from you.
Visit our careers page to see our current openings, or just shoot us an email and let us know that you’re interested. We offer competitive salaries and an excellent slate of benefits. Most of all, we care about your well-being and want you to build a career with Catena.
Get in touch
If you are a member of the media, welcome. We’d be happy to help you in whatever way we can by sharing additional information or background, or by providing expert interviews or feedback to help you with your stories. For media inquiries, contact Jason Schaumburg, digital communications strategist at Catena.
If you’re a reader and have something on your mind, let us know. We want to hear from you, no matter what it is. If you have heard about a possible Ohio gambling story you think we should check out, tell us what it is. If you have a complaint, we’ll do our best to fix it. Of course, if you just want to tell us how much you’re enjoying your time on PlayOhio, we’ll accept that, too.