Phantom Fireworks wants to allow wagers

Company awarded provisional OK for sports betting in Dec.

YOUNGSTOWN -- When the Ohio Casino Control Commission meets Wednesday, among the items the board will consider is an in-person sports betting license for Youngstown-based Phantom Fireworks Inc.

If approved, it's step No. 1 of many the company must take before any sort of bet can be placed, according to a commission official.

"So they can't operate without a partner, so this is going to be one of those things where they will have the license, but it will be conditional. It will say active, conditional," Jessica Franks, communications director for the commission, said. "There will be a number of conditions they will need to meet before they can start accepting wagers, the biggest of those would be they are going to need to have a partner."

The company has yet to inform the commission of a service provider -- the company that will operate the sports book. When it does, the provider would have to be licensed in Ohio, if it's not already.

Then, said Franks, "there are a number of compliance items that have to be completed before they will be given the green light to start accepting wagers, one of them is an in-person visit by our staff."

Phantom Fireworks in December was granted a provisional license by commission Executive Director Matthew T. Schuler. It was good for three months and could be extended for another three months.

William Weimer, vice president of Phantom Fireworks, said the plan remains for the sports book to be at the Covelli Centre downtown. It is, however, not ready to open.

The company should be ready "to talk turkey with the city rather than just generalizations" on a plan within the next couple weeks. "At that point, hopefully we'll be able to make our deal and move forward," Weimer said.

"We have had preliminary talks with them and nobody has said no, so the city seems interested in the project," Weimer said, adding a sports book at the venue would "help out, bring additional traffic there, enhance the experience for the people that are going there."

Sports betting became legal in Ohio on Jan.1 under House Bill 29, which lawmakers approved in December 2021 to allow sports gaming through licensed operators of online sportsbooks and brick-and-mortar establishments.

It also created the Ohio sports gaming lottery operated by the Ohio Lottery Commission through terminals at certain liquor permit establishments.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown, part of the massive PENN Entertainment Inc., is operating in-person sports betting at the facility operated by Barstool Sportsbook. Guests are able to place wagers at kiosks or at the counter.