Indiana Sportsbooks Confirm Expected Revenue Drop In April

Indiana sports betting has taken a hit to start 2023, and April continued that trend. Sportsbooks in the Hoosier State accepted $321.4 million in wagers, down 25.8% from $433 million in March.

The year-over-year handle also declined for the seventh month, dropping by 10.7% from the $360 million wagered in April 2022.

Both the MoM and YoY decreases were expected, however. April is always a slower month than March for Indiana sports betting, and Ohio’s entry into the market on Jan. 1 has cut into Indiana’s slice of the pie.

FanDuel tops April Indiana sports betting handle

Like the rest of the country, FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook are Indiana’s two largest operators. They made up almost two-thirds of all action in April, combining to handle over $207 million in mobile bets.

FanDuel ($106 million) took back the top spot from DraftKings ($101.3 million) for the first time since July 2022. FanDuel also maintained its revenue lead, reporting an $11.8 million win to DraftKings’ $8.9 million.

The rest of the pack fell way behind. BetMGM Sportsbook was third with a $34.2 million handle and $3.3 million in revenue. Caesars Sportsbook’s $27.2 million handle was around 80% of BetMGM’s, but its $1.5 million revenue was less than half.

Four other operators broke $5 million handles, though none hit eight figures: BetRivers ($9.3 million), Barstool ($7.7 million), PointsBet ($7.1 million) and Hard Rock Sportsbook ($6.7 million). All four reported below $1 million in revenue for the month.

Basketball not carrying its weight

Although the Pacers missed the playoffs, NBA betting accounted for the most bets from a single sport. Parlays count separately, though basketball was likely the most significant contributor to that category as well.

However, basketball wagers dropped significantly from last April. Football and other sports also fell, and parlays remained the same.

Surprisingly, baseball was the only sport that showed solid year-over-year growth.

• Football: $3.8 million (-10% YoY)
• Basketball: $90.3 million (-30.1% YoY)
• Baseball: $61.2 million (+8.0% YoY)
• Parlay: $91.6 million (+1.0% YoY)
• Other: $74 million (-3.4% YoY)

Markets reaching maturity

Indiana sports betting has experienced upward growth every year since becoming legal in 2019, but 2023 is going in the opposite direction. At the start of the year, Play Indiana projected a $4.1 billion handle in 2023, down nearly 10% from $4.5 million in 2022.

One explanation comes from Indiana simply finding its ceiling. Uninhibited growth couldn’t go on forever, and Indiana does not have the tourism draws of neighboring states like Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.

Ohio’s Jan. 1 launch also contributes to Indiana’s totals. Through March, Ohioans wagered nearly $2.5 billion, immediately becoming one of the top markets in the nation.

Adding to the poaching party, Kentucky legalized sports betting on March 31. Upon its launch, all of Indiana’s border states will have legalized sports betting.

That said, we can look through a different lens and see Ohio and Kentucky are part of a nationwide trend of states legalizing sports betting. Indiana was early to the party and took advantage of the situation when its neighbors did not.

We will continue to gain an accurate idea of each state’s actual market size as more states legalize sports betting.

Indiana betting volume nothing to be ashamed of

Indiana figures to be just outside the top 10 for the year in total wagers, a respectable number that would still bring in nearly $350 million in revenue.

Tax revenue is also holding its own. April brought another $2.8 million to state coffers, bringing the YTD total to almost $13 million (+20% YoY).

Indiana isn’t Ohio, and it doesn’t have to be. Ohio’s handle is already above $1.5 billion for the year, something many states can only dream of.