Caesars Interactive Entertainment appears to need a little extra time to launch in Indiana.
The online gaming company on Sunday received a mobile launch authorization by the Indiana Gaming Commission to launch online/mobile sports wagering as soon as Tuesday, May 19. As of Tuesday afternoon, it looks like the book isn’t yet available in Indiana cyberspace. The sportsbook’s website had an “error” message at around 2 p.m. EST.
Hoosier State Bets reached out to the online/mobile sportsbook for further information. The sportsbook will launch “at some point this week,” Hoosier State Bets was told. That didn’t mean the launch wouldn’t come later Tuesday, as the book advised that it couldn’t provide much guidance at the time.
Upon launch, it will be the seventh online/mobile sportsbook available to those within Indiana’s borders.
Long road to launch
CIE received a license for online/mobile sports wagering in the Hoosier State back in August, but it didn’t hit the market nearly as quickly as others. BetRivers, FanDuel, and DraftKings all received licenses in August as well and launched their respective products in October.
When it does launch in Indiana cyberspace, the Caesars Sportsbook will have its work cut out for it, as FanDuel and DraftKings combined control nearly 90% of the statewide online/mobile handle.
That’s not to say Caesars isn’t doing well in Indiana’s nascent sports betting market. The casino operator is the leader in retail sports betting statewide, anchored by its Horseshoe Hammond Casino as the No. 1 property in terms of retail betting. The casino is located near Chicago.
In February, that retail book handled $12.3 million in bets, nearly double the second-most popular book in the state — the Hollywood Casino & Hotel Lawrenceburg near Cincinnati.
Caesars has a handful of other retail betting shops in the state.
The COVID-19 pandemic closed Indiana casinos in March, but they are expected to reopen next month in a limited capacity. The retail sportsbooks will reopen with some safety precautions.
In the absence of major professional sports, Indiana’s online/mobile handle fell to about $26 million last month. There was just $1.55 million worth of revenue to go around among the six online/mobile sportsbooks in April. DraftKings and FanDuel generated 94% of it.
The winnings were almost all from the two daily fantasy sports giants, as BetMGM had just $48,000 in revenue, followed by BetAmerica with about $3,500. PointsBet actually lost $4,700 last month.
BetRivers was a distant third with $116,000.
In February, Indiana’s sports betting market saw its all-time high of $187.1 million in handle. The books reported $10.3 million in taxable revenue that month.
