MaximBet Closing, Will Not Enter Ohio Sports Betting Market

MaximBet sportsbook is no longer on its way to Ohio after its parent company on Nov. 16 announced that it is shutting down the sportsbook.

MaximBet is listed as the second sportsbook app partner of JACK Cleveland Casino. JACK will still be able to move forward with its betJACK sportsbook app and is not required to find a replacement for MaximBet.

With Ohio sports betting set to launch on Jan. 1, 2023, Maxim is the second brand to bow out of the running in Ohio, following the shuttering of Fubo Sporstbook in October.

Big plans fall apart for MaximBet

Relatively new to the sportsbook market, lifestyle brand Maxim appeared to be building momentum in the U.S. sports betting space.

MaximBet just launched in its second state, Indiana, on Sept. 30, following entrance into the Colorado market a year earlier. The company planned to expand into Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to a statement released in September.

Back in May, the company signed rapper Nicki Minaj as a brand ambassador. Minaj was set to appear in MaximBet ads, website, sportsbook and casino promotions.

MaximBet filed its application with the Ohio Casino Control Commission on time in August.

The company announced the decision to close in a Nov. 16 statement that read in part:

“It is with regret that we inform you that, effective immediately, MaximBet will cease operations. Challenging macroeconomic conditions and an increasingly cost-prohibitive marketplace have accelerated this difficult decision.”

JACK Cleveland still moving forward with betJACK app

JACK Entertainment‘s marketing ahead of the Ohio sports betting launch has focused on its betJACK sportsbook platform. JACK Director of Public Relations and Communications Aleksandra Brault told PlayOhio in September:

“In preparation for legal sports betting in Ohio, JACK Cleveland Casino has created its own mobile sports betting product, betJACK. Ohio-headquartered, JACK Cleveland Casino will proudly launch its homegrown betJACK app and website offering real money sports betting under its Type A license beginning January 1, 2023.”

Type A licenses allow retail sportsbooks to partner with up to two mobile sportsbooks. A second partnership is not required, however. Only two other Ohio retail sportsbook applicants have two partners listed: the Columbus Blue Jackets (Fanatics and Prophet Exchange) and Belterra Park (FanDuel and Betway).

PlayOhio reached out to JACK Entertainment to ask if the company will look to add a second sportsbook app to replace MaximBet. This article will be updated with a response.

MaximBet’s departure leaves Ohio with 23 potential sportsbook apps

A total of 25 sportsbook apps originally applied with the Ohio Casino Control Commission. With MaximBet and Fubo having pulled out, the state could have as many as 23 sportsbook apps launch on Jan. 1.

Only 16 sportsbooks have been approved so far, however, after the OCCC on Nov. 16 approved four more.

Those approved are: