Record Month Helps Indiana Sports Betting Reach $5 Billion In Wagers

Hoosiers helped set another Indiana sports betting record in October.

Gamblers in Indiana bet over $461 million on sports last month, according to the latest report from the Indiana Gaming Commission. That shattered the previous all-time high of $355 million for a single month.

Gamblers have officially wagered over $5 billion since legal Indiana sports betting began in 2019.

Football bets led the charge for the state during October, and the return of basketball betting will only push the numbers higher through the end of the year.

Indiana October 2021 sports betting handle

No surprise here, but the majority of October’s handle came from online betting. DraftKings Indiana led the pack with $150 million worth of wagers.

October’s handle may have been a record for Indiana, but that didn’t quite translate to record sportsbook revenue.

Sportsbooks in Indiana racked up $27.6 million worth of adjusted gross revenue last month, which was a bit lower than September’s record of $33.8 million.

Here’s a breakdown of exactly where Indiana’s October handle came from:

Licensee	Online Brand(s)	Total Handle	Online Handle	Retail Handle	Gross Revenue	Taxes (9.5%)
Ameristar East Chicago	DraftKings | theScore Bet	$160,762,619	$153,935,553	$6,827,066	$8,776,408	$830,358
Blue Chip	FanDuel	$114,651,752	$113,258,342	$1,393,411	$9,505,229	$903,023
Belterra	BetMGM | Betway	$49,878,404	$48,980,895	$897,509	$3,625,270	$344,401
Hollywood Lawrenceburg	PointsBet | Barstool	$49,512,514	$33,905,040	$15,607,474	$2,482,337	$235,822
Harrah’s Hoosier Park	Caesars	$46,309,932	$40,235,126	$6,074,806	$945,530	$47,101
French Lick	BetRivers	$14,344,497	$13,634,906	$709,591	$844,791	$80,276
Horseshoe Hammond	Unibet	$7,992,329	$2,053,962	$5,938,368	$403,966	$27,472
Rising Star	TwinSpires | WynnBet	$6,149,549	$5,940,759	$208,790	$508,539	$56,743
Indiana Grand		$5,750,626	$0	$5,750,626	$610,457	$58,083
Caesars Southern Indiana		$3,880,504	$0	$3,880,504	-$52,245	$18,881
Bally’s Evansville		$1,898,516	$0	$1,898,516	$188,190	$18,189
Total		$461,131,242	$411,944,581	$49,186,661	$27,838,472	$2,620,348

New Indiana sports betting record

Indiana just had its two best sports betting months ever. Now the state has a hot streak in the crosshairs.

Another set of sky-high numbers in November would make for three-straight record months in a row.

Football was the big driver behind October’s numbers.

Betting on the NFL is the most popular option around the US, and that’s certainly true in Indiana.

At least 38% of October’s entire $461 million handle came from football bets alone. That number doesn’t even include football parlay wagers since the state’s revenue reports don’t reveal more than the overall total for parlay betting.

• Football: $175.8 million
• Basketball: $53.5 million
• Baseball: $34.8 million
• Parlay: $127.6 million
• Other: $67.1 million

Basketball boosts Indiana betting in October

Indiana’s love affair with basketball is a well-known one.

The sport holds a special weight in the state, which rings especially true when it comes to gambling.

Basketball was the most popular sport for betting during the first six months of 2021. Now hoops are back after a short hiatus.

Indiana basketball betting increased dramatically with the NBA’s return in October.

Hoosiers only bet about $5.2 million on basketball in September. That number ballooned up to $53.5 million last month.

Basketball’s handle should see another bump in November with college hoops finally returning.

Gamblers love to bet on the NBA in Indiana, but college ball really hits the sweet spot.

In-state teams like IU, Purdue, Notre Dame and Butler are all hitting the hardwood in November. That should boost basketball’s betting numbers even higher for the following report.

Indiana will need the extra college numbers to help replace the betting volume from the MLB Playoffs and the World Series.

$5 billion of Indiana sports bets

2021 has been all about growth for Indiana’s gambling market.

The state’s lifetime sports betting handle was only at $1.6 billion this time last year. Now Indiana is the fifth state to rack up over $5 billion worth of legal sports bets.

Over $3.5 billion worth of wagers in a year is nothing to sneeze at. It’s an easy trend to set, with Hoosiers betting over $400 million a month on sports.

October’s impressive handle also led to some solid Indiana sports betting revenue numbers.

Sportsbooks in the state made $27.6 million worth of adjusted gross revenue from last month’s $461 million worth of bets.

All of that translated to over $2.6 million worth of tax revenue for the state.

New Indiana sportsbooks on the way

Indiana is still one of the largest sports betting markets in the country, and adding new betting apps to the state will be an important part of keeping it that way.

There are already 12 different Indiana online sportsbooks to pick from.

New operators add to the competition. That’s great news for gamblers in the state hunting for the best odds and deals.

All of these sportsbooks are hoping to open their digital doors for business soon:

• Bally Bet
• SBK Sportsbook
• MaximBet
• Fubo Sportsbook
• PlayUp
• SI Sportsbook

Many of those companies want to launch in Indiana before the end of the year.

That timeline is starting to run short, but Bally Bet and SBK Sportsbook could still make the year-end cut.

Both sportsbooks already have their temporary vendor license from the gaming commission. That’s a big step toward launching an online sportsbook in Indiana.

Each company could start taking bets sometime in November now that the licensing hurdle is out of the way.