Indiana became the fifth state to surpass $5 billion in sports betting handle in the post-PASPA era Friday and set an all-time record for the second consecutive month after the Indiana Gaming Commission reported $461.1 million worth of wagers for October.
The Hoosier State joins New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and neighboring Illinois in that select circle, accomplishing the feat in 26 months of wagering. October’s handle easily eclipsed last month’s short-lived standard of $355.4 million as an additional two weekend days and the popularity of football and parlay wagering contributed to a 29.7% rise month over month that was also nearly double the $230.9 million generated in October 2020.
Football topped handle in the five categories provided by the IGC with $175.8 million, while parlay wagering was a distant yet clear second at nearly $127.6 million. The catch-all “other,” which includes hockey, golf, tennis, and soccer, totaled $67.1 million, while basketball ($53.5 million) and baseball ($34.8 million) rounded out the listings. The IGC does not break out revenue by category.
Indiana also wrested the title of largest monthly handle outside the “Big Four” from Colorado, which had set the standard with its $408.3 million handle in September. This distinction, however, may be short-lived depending on Michigan’s online revenue report. which will add to the $34.2 million wagered at its three retail sportsbooks in Detroit.
Despite the increased handle, operators could not repeat last month’s double of records in both categories. Sportsbooks did claim nearly $27.7 million in revenue, as Indiana also became the fifth state to reach $400 million. The 6% win rate — the fourth-lowest all-time — was 3.53 points lower than September, which contributed to the record $33.9 million in profits that month.
Indiana’s tax coffers received more than $2.6 million in receipts and has collected close to $22.1 million for the year. There has been more than $2.9 billion worth of sports bets placed this year, with operators collecting just shy of $232.6 million through the first 10 months.
DraftKings tops in handle, FanDuel for revenue
All 12 mobile operators that accepted bets in October cleared $1 million in handle, the first time that has occurred in the six months they have all been live. But only theScore Bet posted a double-digit win rate percentage. Its stunning 19.3% hold resulted in $622,447 in revenue, a 69.5% increase from September and nearly one-third of its $1.9 million in revenue for the year.
DraftKings remained atop the handle roost, setting an all-time high for the state for the second straight month with $150.7 million worth of wagers as it moved within $7 million of $1 billion for the year. Its $7.8 million in revenue was again not enough to overtake FanDuel, which was the top revenue generator for the sixth straight month with more than $9.2 million. FanDuel has totaled $72.4 million in revenue in Indiana this year, 18.8% more than DraftKings ($61 million) despite 23.5% less handle.
BetMGM kept a comfortable hold on third place for both handle and revenue, with its $47.7 million in the former an all-time high and the near-$3.5 million in the latter ranking fourth in its 21 months of operation. Caesars, which moved its mobile tether to Harrah’s Hoosier Park, was fourth in handle at $40.2 million. But its paltry 1.08% hold resulted in just $435,658 in revenue.
Barstool Sportsbook again claimed an increased market share for handle, jumping 35.1% from September to more than $21.7 million. Its win rate in October was 3.17%, which was more than six percentage points worse than the previous month and resulted in $689,833 in profits — less than half its record $1.5 million total from September.
BetRivers ($13.6 million) and PointsBet ($12.2 million) were the other operators to reach eight figures for handle, though PointsBet outperformed the overall state win rate at 6.74% to finish fourth in revenue with nearly $820,000. Bettors did get the better of Unibet, which paid out $22,781 more than the just over $2 million accepted in wagers.
Hollywood Lawrenceburg keeps shining on retail side
Long the top retail sportsbook in the state, Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg finally claimed one of the few honors that had escaped it — the top all-time monthly handle total. It took in $15.6 million in wagers for October, bettering the mark of $13.7 million set by Horseshoe Hammond in January 2020 and moving within $1 million of $100 million for the year. The location also topped all retail books for revenue with $972,752 on a 6.23% win rate.
Ameristar ($6.8 million) and Horseshoe Hammond ($5.9 million) took the other podium spots for handle, and the Northwest Indiana casinos flipped the order on revenue, with Horseshoe totaling $426,748 and Ameristar $340,498. Overall, the state’s nine casinos, two racinos, and three Winner’s Circle locations generated close to $49.2 million in handle and more than $3.5 million in revenue.
The handle was the third-highest overall, trailing the $51.7 million in January and $50 million last December. The 7.14% win rate on the retail side marked the first time it was below 10% since the Super Bowl-impacted hold in February was just 6.7%.
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