Problem Gaming College Activation

Request for Proposals (RFP)

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), Division of Problem Gambling Services, is requesting proposals for:

Collegiate Activation

For the Period: State Fiscal Year 2026 – November 1, 2025 through June 1, 2026

This date can be altered when we are prepared to post. The contract with the awardees will be for 365 days from signing

Submit Proposals through the Ohio|Buys website for this particular RFP.

This RFP consists of 13 pages. Please verify that you have a complete copy.

Please submit all inquiries about this RFP through the Ohio|Buys website for this particular RFP. Please refer to Part Three of this RFP, “General Instructions”, for more information about submitting inquiries. All responses to inquiries submitted by Proposers will be posted on the RFP Inquiry tab for viewing by all prospective Proposers.

PART ONE: STRUCTURE OF THIS RFP

PARTS

Part One Structure of this RFP

Part Two Information on Requested Services

Part Three General Instructions

Part Four Evaluation of Proposals

Part Five Contract Award

ATTACHMENTS

Appendix 1 Standard Affirmation and Disclosure Form

· Standard Affirmation and Disclosure Form must be signed by an authorized official of Proposer’s organization and must be included for any proposal to be scored

Appendix 2 Contractor Information Form

· Contractor Information Form must be completed and submitted with the proposal

Appendix 3 Sample OCCC Contract

PART TWO: SERVICES REQUESTED INFORMATION

I. MISSION & GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The Ohio Casino Control Commission has the responsibility to ensure the integrity of casino gaming, sports gaming, skill-based amusement machines and fantasy contests by licensing, regulating, investigating and enforcing state laws. Since its creation, the Commission has actively pursued programs and policies designed to promote responsible gambling and equitable access of treatment for those in need. Ohio was one of the first states to bring the resources of multiple agencies together to help those seeking treatment for a gambling addiction through the creation of Ohio for Responsible Gambling (ORG). This initiative involves the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Ohio Lottery Commission, and the Ohio Casino Control Commission and works to coordinate with state and local partners to provide education materials, prevention programs and treatment options. The Division of Problem Gambling Services acts as the Commission’s representative on ORG, as well as many other boards at both a local and national level.

II. PURPOSE

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) is seeking proposals from qualified contractors in the higher education space to deliver problem and responsible gambling programming in connection with existing public awareness campaigns and tools designed to alter the attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of collegiate gambling and address the connection to other topics of value, such as but not limited to, mental health and wellbeing, financial literacy and suicide prevention.

Existing campaigns contractors should consider deploying on campus in conjunction with programming include:

More Than a Bet

Pause Before You Play

Existing tools contractors should consider deploying on campus in conjunction with programming include:

Gamban

Gamfin

RecoverME

III. BACKGROUND

Ohio Rev.Code 3775.02 grants the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) jurisdiction over all persons conducting or participating in sports gaming in Ohio. The OCCC has the duty to ensure integrity of sports gaming and to protect those most vulnerable from gambling-related harms and/or from undue consequences as a result of conduct related to sports gaming in Ohio.

The 2022 Ohio Gambling Survey shows that young adults (aged 18-24) are more likely to be at-risk or experience gambling-related harm. Furthermore, problem and disordered gambling does not exist in a vacuum, it more often than not is accompanied by co-occurring substance use, comorbid mental health conditions, suicide ideation and financial insecurity.

IV. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES

The Collegiate Activation Program will be designed as a comprehensive programmatic initiative used to primarily discuss programming and workforce development for students and faculty/staff on campus in various departments, including Athletics, Greek Life, Counseling Center, etc. Programming by the selected applicant will tie problem gambling education with other topics students believe to be of value, including but not limited to mental health and wellbeing, suicide prevention, financial literacy etc. Historically, problem gambling education would utilize Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) strategies to bring in evidence-based approaches. Lastly, the programming should activate existing tools ready to be utilized by Ohio campuses such as the More Than a Bet and Pause Before You Play campaigns and self-help tools such as Gamban, Gamfin and RecoverMe. The activation of these campaigns and tools should support and enhance the larger comprehensive campus programmatic initiative.

The proposal must demonstrate how the following deliverables will be achieved:

• Develop a project plan for all deliverables

• Discuss CSAP Strategies that will be deployed and provide examples

• Discuss key populations that will be involved and served

• Discuss use of peer leadership and peer modeling on campus

• Develop program evaluation plan

• Develop college problem gambling program that measures student population reached.

• Develop strategies designed to integrate the topic of problem gambling with other public health topics

• Develop plan for social norm changes specific to both faculty, staff and students around sports betting harassment

• Develop plan on utilization of statewide campaigns and toolkits on campus

• Coordinate co-branding efforts with statewide and local partners

V. ETHICAL AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST REQUIREMENTS

No contractor or individual, company or organization seeking a contract shall promise or give to any OCCC employee any item of value that is of such character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence upon the employee with respect to his or her duties.

No contractor or individual, company or organization seeking a contract shall solicit any OCCC employee to violate any of the conduct requirements for employees.

Any contractor acting on behalf of OCCC shall refrain from activities that could result in violations of ethics and/or conflicts of interest. Any contractor or potential contractor who violates the requirement and prohibitions defined Section 102.03 or Section 102.04 of the Ohio Revised Code is subject to termination of the contract or refusal by OCCC to enter into a contract.

PART THREE: GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The following sections provide a calendar of events, details on how to respond to this RFP and how to get more information about this RFP. All responses must be complete and in the prescribed format.

I. CALENDAR OF EVENTS & ONLINE INFORMATION

The schedule for this RFP is given with the Ohio|Buys solicitation and is subject to change. OCCC may change this schedule at any time. If OCCC changes the schedule before the Proposal Due Date, it will do so through an announcement on the OCCC web site area for this. The web site announcement will be followed by an addendum to this RFP, which also will be made available through the same Ohio|Buys web site, a possible new round or lot may be started.

It is each prospective Proposer’s responsibility to check the Ohio|Buys web site’s solicitation area for this RFP for current information and the calendar of events scheduled through award of any contract.

Other than by adherence to the RFP Inquiry process, set forth within Ohio|Buys, no contact related to this RFP shall be made with OCCC until a contract award is announced. Notwithstanding this prohibition, OCCC, at its sole discretion, may request additional information as part of the review process outlined below.

II. PROPOSAL FORMAT

Proposals must be prepared in accordance with instructions in this section. The proposal must clearly outline how each of the deliverables of Part 2 Section IV will be completed and with the time frames specified in that same section.

To be accepted, a proposal must include a technical proposal and a cost proposal as described in this section, contain all the information specified for each of the categories listed in this section, and meeting the requirements of this section. Both technical and cost proposal will be identified within the RFP on the Ohio|Buys web site and must be filled out in its entirety to be accepted.

A. Technical Proposal

a. Transmittal letter includes:

• Identifies the bidder

• The name, title, address, and telephone number of the proposer’s contract person with authority to answer questions concerning the RFP

• The name, title, address, telephone number, and email address of the proposer’s contact person with authority to execute a contract on behalf of the proposer.

b. Organizational experience including:

• Information on the background of the firm or individual, including background information of any subcontractor(s)

• Any prior experience relevant to this RFP (includes current contact names and phone numbers for these references), and a list of similar projects currently underway by the proposer or by any subcontractor(s) as well as completed over the past three (3) years unless requested otherwise within the Evaluation Section of this RFP. The Evaluation/Selection Review Committee will consider these additional references and may contact each of these sources.

c. Technical Approach and work plan that indicates how the proposer plans to address the purpose, objectives and deliverables, within the timeframes as stated in this RFP.

• A procedure for reporting the status of the project, including work completed on at least a monthly basis

• A proposal for how coordination will occur and how information will be shared with OCCC

• A chart indicating the names of staff and staff hours/activities/tasks linked to the responsibility of each of those individuals involved in each deliverable of the project

• Samples of previous related projects

d. Personnel Qualifications

• Must include names, resumes, education, relevant licensure/certification and experience of personnel listed in the table of organization/personnel chart for this project (including any subcontractors) and fully explain how their education and experience is relevant to the sections IV. of this RFP.

• OCCC shall require a clause in the resulting contract regarding key personnel that any person identified as critical to the success of the project may not be removed without reasonable notice to OCCC.

• One Project Manager shall be named on behalf of the proposer. All correspondence shall be directed through this named individual.

B. Cost Proposal

The cost proposal must indicate the total cost for the entire project. The total award will not exceed $200,000 for the awardee combined for all elements identified within the Financial Questionnaire for this RFP in Ohio|Buys.

Costs may include staff time, research incentives, sub-contracting for services with other agencies, and other service needs.

Travel cost should be encompassed within the cost of the deliverables. Travel is not to be listed separately. For purposes of this RFP, travel includes all modes of transportation (airfare, tax, car rentals, etc.), lodging expenses, meals, and cost of communications by phone, mail, e-mail, or fax.

III. PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL

Proposals must be submitted in the following manner:

• Proposals must be submitted via the Ohio|Buys website by no later than 2:00 pm EST on the date indicated on the sourcing project.

No proposals or corrections/additions to submitted proposals will be accepted after the Proposal Due Date and time. Proposals that are submitted after the Proposal Due Date and time will not be scored.

Proposals that are not submitted in the format requested will not be scored. Proposals that do not contain all of the required information will not be scored.

All costs incurred in the preparation of the Proposal shall be borne by the Proposer alone, and OCCC shall not contribute, in any way, to the cost of the preparation of the Proposal.

Any and all documents developed by the Proposer during the course of this project will be provided to OCCC upon request and will become the property OCCC, and the Proposer shall not assert any claims arising under copyright or otherwise inconsistent with the transfer of ownership of such documents.

All information submitted by the Proposer will be considered to be public information unless the proposer specifically demonstrates, in writing, which information it considers to be proprietary. “Proprietary information” is information which, if made public, would put the proposer at a disadvantage in the market place and trade in which the proposer is a part. Consequently, an assertion of “proprietary” information must be clearly identified and the basis of the assertion must be included. It is not adequate for the bidder to simply state that disclosure of the information will put it at a disadvantage in the market place. OCCC will make the final decision as to whether information is “public” or “proprietary”.

OCCC reserves the right to:

• Accept or reject any and all Proposals and/or bids if OCCC determines that it is in the best interests of the State to do so.

• Rebid this RFP, requesting new Proposals from qualified firms.

• Waive or modify minor irregularities in Proposals received.

• Negotiate with Proposer(s), within the requirements of this RFP, to best serve the interests of the State of Ohio.

• Require the submission of modifications or additions to Proposals as a condition of further participation in the selection process.

• Fund any Proposal in full or in part; any assignments of work by OCCC under the scope of this RFP will be made dependent on need and the availability of adequate, specific funding.

• Not make an award at the end of the evaluation process; this RFP is not to be interpreted or construed to guarantee that one or more Proposers submitting responses will be awarded contracts.

• Adjust the RFP Calendar of Event dates for whatever reason it deems appropriate.

• Contact Proposer to clarify any portion of the Proposer’s submittal.

If, during the review process, OCCC determines that it is necessary to make further distinctions between certain Proposers, OCCC may request certain selected Proposers to interview or make a presentation to staff and reviewers. The Proposer shall bear the cost of travel to any scheduled interview.

In accordance with federal and state statutes and OCCC policy, no person shall be excluded from participation or subject to discrimination in the RFP process on the basis of race, color, age, sex, national origin, military status, religion, or disability.

IV. INQUIRIES

From the issuance date of this RFP, until a contract is awarded to a proposer, there may not be communications concerning the RFP between any supplier who expects to submit a proposal and any employee of OCCC involved in the issuing of the RFP. The only exception is provided through the submission of written requests for clarification/interpretation via the RFP through the Ohio|Buys website during the specified inquiry period.

Prospective Proposers may make inquiries or seek clarifications regarding this RFP any time during the inquiry period listed in the RFP Calendar of Events. To make an inquiry, prospective Proposers must use the Inquiry tab on the RFP in Ohio|Buys to submit all inquiries or to seek clarification.

Prospective Proposers submitting inquiries will receive an immediate acknowledgement by e-mail that their inquiry has been received. The prospective Proposer who submitted the inquiry will not receive an e-mail response to the question, but will need to view the response on the State Procurement web site where it will be posted for viewing by all prospective Proposers.

Prospective Proposers may all view inquiries through the Inquiry tab located within the RFP.

OCCC will try to respond to all properly posed inquiries within 48 hours, excluding weekends and state holidays. OCCC will not respond to any inquiries received after the date and time indicated on the RFP. Prospective Proposers who attempt to seek information or clarifications verbally will be directed to reduce their questions to writing in accordance with the terms of this RFP and state purchasing policy. No other form of communication is acceptable and use of any other form of communication or any attempt to communicate with OCCC staff or any other agency of the State to discuss this RFP may result in the Proposer being deemed ineligible.

PART FOUR: EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

I. EVALUATION PROCESS

OCCC’s evaluation process of responses submitted to this request may consist of up to four distinct phases:

1. OCCC’s initial review of all proposals for timely submission;

2. An evaluation committee review of the proposals for defects and scoring;

3. OCCC’s request for more information (clarifications, interviews, presentations, and/or demonstrations); and,

4. Negotiations or best offer requests.

At its sole discretion, OCCC will determine whether phases three and/or four are necessary under this RFP, reserving for itself the ability to eliminate or add phases three or four at any time during the evaluation process. OCCC may add or remove sub-phases to phases 2 through 4 at any time if OCCC believes doing so will improve the evaluation process.

II. PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

In the proposal evaluation phase, OCCC staff or reviewers selected by OCCC and representatives from Ohio for Responsible Gambling and other field experts will rate the proposals submitted in response to this RFP based on the following criteria.

Evaluation Criteria	Reviewer Rating	Cumulative Score
Applicant demonstrates familiarity with sports gambling landscape and problem gambling risk factors within the college population
Applicant demonstrates experience in college based prevention programming or behavioral health campaigns that include cultural change initiatives
Applicant’s project narrative addresses scope of work, deliverables, activation of tools, and timeline.
Applicant fully describes how their intended role will clearly plan for messaging to change attitudes toward sports betting and addressing peer influence and social norms.
Applicant provided a clear metric for evaluating knowledge and attitude changes, behavioral intentions, engagement and participation rates as well as methods for collecting data.
Applicants have included a budget and budget narrative that identifies all costs to complete the project as described in the application.
	TOTAL:

III. SCORING

Each proposal will be scored, and numerical technical point values will be assigned according to the criteria listed below. The scale (0-10) will be used to rate each Proposal response to the RFP on the technical evaluation sections. The Ohio Casino Control Commission will score the Proposal responses by adding up the total scores from all reviewers (representatives from Ohio for Responsible Gambling and other field experts) for the Offeror’s total technical score.

RATINGS DEFINED:

Point Value	Explanation
0	DOES NOT MEET: Response description does not comply substantially with requirements or is not provided.
1	WEAK: Response description is poor related to meeting the objectives.
2-4	WEAK TO MEETS: Response description indicates the objectives will not be completely met or at a level that will be below average.
5	MEETS: Response description generally meets the objectives or expectations.
6-8	MEETS TO STRONG: Response description indicates the objectives will be exceeded.
9	STRONG: Response description notably displays objectives or expectations in ways that provide tangible benefits or meets objectives or expectations and contains at least one enhancing feature that provides significant benefits.
10	EXCEEDS: Response description significantly exceeds objectives or expectations in ways that provide tangible benefits or meets objectives or expectations and contains at least one enhancing feature that provides significant benefits.

PART FIVE: CONTRACT AWARD

I. CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS

Any contract(s) resulting from this issuance of this RFP are subject to the terms and conditions as provided in the personal services contract. The information contained in the RFP and in the proposal submitted by the selected contractor shall be considered part of the contract.

Payments for any and all services provided pursuant to the contract are contingent upon the availability of state and federal funds. Therefore, in accordance with section 126.07 of the Ohio Revised Code, with it is understood that such funds are contingent on the availability of lawful appropriations by the Ohio General Assembly. If the Ohio General Assembly fails at any time to continue funding, the resulting contract(s) would be terminated as of the date that the funding expires without further obligation from OCCC.

All aspects of the contract apply equally to work performed by any and all subcontractors.

The Contractor, and any subcontractor(s), will not use or disclose any information made available to them for any purpose other than to fulfill the contractual duties specified in the RFP. The Contractor, and any subcontractor(s), agrees to be bound by the same standards of confidentiality including federal and state statutory and regulatory requirements that apply to the employees of OCCC and the State of Ohio.

Before a contract can be awarded, an Affirmative Action Program Verification Form must be completed using the Ohio Business Gateway Electronic filing website (https://ohiobusinessgateway.ohio.gov). Contractor must have an approved Affirmative Action plan recorded with the State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

II. CONTRACT AWARD PROCESS

It is OCCC’s intention to award one contract under the scope of this RFP and as based on the RFP Calendar of Events schedule, so long as OCCC determines that doing so is in the State’s best interests and OCCC has not otherwise changed the award date.

Any award decision by OCCC under this RFP is final. After OCCC makes its decision under this RFP, all Contractors will be notified (in writing or by phone, at OCCC’s discretion) of the final evaluation and determination as to their Proposals.

OCCC will issue a notice of contract award to the selected Contractor(s) and finalized contract terms and conditions will be forwarded for signature. Contract will include RFP and attachments and the Contractor’s accepted proposal. Once executed copies of the contract are submitted by the Contractor(s) and pending any further approvals that may be required (e.g., State Controlling Board), OCCC will fully execute the contract.

Once the contract is fully executed, OCCC will issue a purchase order (PO). OCCC will issue to the Contractor(s) one (1) copy of the signed instrument and one (1) copy of the PO for its/their files.

Unless otherwise negotiated and included in the executed contract/scope of work, the selected contractor(s) shall be bound by all outlined services, policies and procedures as contained in the contractor’s submitted and evaluated proposal.

Contractor may commence work upon receipt of a state issued purchase order.

The selected contractor(s) shall be compensated based on deliverables listed in the RFP. The personal services contract issued will further specify the timelines for completion of each deliverable and payment structure.

III. NUMBER OF AWARDS

It is OCCC’s intention to award up to two contract(s) depending on programs’ needs and the fit of the Contractor(s) to the scope of this RFP.

IV. FUNDING APPROVAL THRESHOLD

In the event that contractual expenditures with the selected Contractor(s) will exceed $50,000 in spending under any contract that results from this RFP, or that otherwise exceed $50,000 in aggregate spending across all contracts between the contractor and OCCC, the contract could be subject to the approval of the State of Ohio Controlling Board.