DraftKings Dominates Indiana Online Sports Betting Market In October

When a participant outperforms all its competitors combined by a factor of five in any competition, it’s considered absolute domination. This is precisely what the DraftKings Indiana mobile sportsbook achieved in the Hoosier State in October.

DraftKings took a substantial lead in the first month of legal online sports betting in Indiana. Other operators now face a considerable gap they need to close to compete for market share.

How much did DraftKings Indiana win in October?

On Thursday, Oct. 3, DraftKings and BetRivers became the first two legal sportsbooks in Indiana to start accepting online wagers.

On Tuesday, October 22, FanDuel also began reporting handle for the month, like the other three mobile sportsbooks. The figures reported were:

• DraftKings: over $39.37 million
• BetRivers: over $6.26 million
• FanDuel: over $2.37 million

It’s worth mentioning that FanDuel was in operation for only the final 10 days of the month, while BetRivers and DraftKings were operational for 29 out of the month’s 31 days. Even so, this can still be considered a significant victory for DraftKings.

Contextualizing DraftKings’ dominance in handle

DraftKings demonstrated the importance of brand awareness in the gambling sector. The online bookmaker averaged daily bets exceeding $1.35 million, compared to the daily average of slightly above $215,862 by BetRivers. Both figures were recorded in the same market during the same period.

The fact that FanDuel surpassed BetRivers in that particular metric reinforces the idea that brand name plays a significant role in sports betting. Last month in Indiana, FanDuel’s average daily bets exceeded $237,000.

DraftKings possesses an additional advantage due to the close proximity of its retail partner, the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, to the Chicago metro area. In comparison, the retail partners of the other two mobile sportsbooks, the Blue Chip (FanDuel) and French Lick (BetRivers) casinos, are significantly farther away from Chicago. This means they attract less out-of-state traffic from Chicago residents.

In October 2019, the mobile Indiana handle of DraftKings was approximately 4.5 times the combined bets taken in by BetRivers and FanDuel. Unsurprisingly, this influx contributed to the revenue of the Ameristar.

Ameristar experienced a victory with assistance from DraftKings.

In October, the Ameristar’s retail sports betting handle in East Chicago was far from insignificant, with bettors placing $6.79 million in person.

Once again, the combined retail handle of Blue Chip’s $4.55 million and French Lick’s $791,706 was surpassed. However, the most significant victory for Ameristar and DraftKings came in the form of wins.

DraftKings made five times the combined monthly revenue of BetRivers and FanDuel. The total revenue for DraftKings was $3.49 million, while BetRivers and FanDuel together made $694,530.

Similarly, Ameristar’s retail revenue of $1 million surpassed the total revenues of Blue Chip ($741,048) and French Lick ($73,745) casinos. The total online and retail revenue for Ameristar in October was $5.02 million, which was more than double the combined revenue of BetRivers and FanDuel.

Though DraftKings’ current dominance may not be long-lasting, it does provide the brand with a crucial advantage in a market where investment is key to profit. This lead over their rivals could be crucial as more competition enters the market.

In the upcoming months, many more brands such as BetIndiana and PointsBet could potentially launch in the Hoosier State. However, even if these launches are successful, it may be challenging to compete with DraftKings, especially if it maintains the betting rate it achieved in October.