Indiana sportsbooks have seen a massive increase in betting activity in August.
According to the latest figures from the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC), sportsbooks in the state generated $9.8m in revenue from $169m in sports bets in August.
Sportsbook operators also paid $934,314 in wagering taxes to the state in August.
Indiana sports betting revenue, handle and tax numbers were the highest they have been since February, before the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.
The latest figures also represent a significant month-on-month increase on the $6.7m generated and $70.9m wagered in July.
In addition to an increase in activity during August, legal and regulated sportsbooks in the state of Indiana generated more than $100m in revenue from $1.20bn in total stakes for the first 12 months of legal betting in the state.
Breaking down the figures
In August, online betting handle amounted to $143.9m of the state’s total handle while land-based operations contributed $25.1m to the state’s total. In terms of revenue, before adjustments sportsbooks generated $12.5m, with $10m coming from online and $2.5m from land-based betting.
Penn National Gaming’s Ameristar Casino, and its sports betting partner DraftKings, managed to generate just under half of the state’s betting revenue in August, after generating $4.9m from $78.6m in bets.
Blue Chip Casino and FanDuel Sportsbook processed $50.8m in bets and generated $2.3m in revenue.
Penn’s Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, which hosts PointsBet’s sportsbook, generated $1.1m from $11.7m in bets. Belterra Casino and BetMGM processed $9.9m in bets and held onto $743.982.
What did people bet on?
The return of major league US sports provided a huge boost to the state’s betting handle. Thanks to the return of the NBA on 30 July, basketball betting was the most popular sport among bettors with $55.2m in handle.
MLB bolstered baseball betting, which returned on 23 July, with bettors wagering $31m on baseball events. Football betting activity, however, declined to $717,974 despite the return of the NFL season.
Handle from other sporting events hit $36.3m and the amount wagered on parlay bets amounted to $43.6m.
Sports betting in Indiana
The state’s Governor, Eric Holcomb, signed HB 1015 into law in May 2019, legalising land-based and state-wide mobile sports betting in the state of Indiana. Bettors can sign up for online sportsbook accounts remotely, from anywhere within the state.
Sports betting went live in Indiana on 1 September 2019, at the Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago, the Hollywood Casino & Hotel Lawrenceburg and Indiana Grand Racing & Casino
At the time of writing, bettors in the Hoosier State have several online sports betting options which include DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, BetAmerica, PointsBet and BetMGM.
