Bettors in Indiana maintained the nationwide trend of generating impressive sports betting handles in the month of September, clearing $200 million for the first time since wagers were accepted in September of last year.
The Indiana Gaming Commission reported handle of $207,450,106, an increase of 22.7% on August’s total of $169 million and aided by the increased sports offerings with all four major sports being played simultaneously. The Hoosier State’s previous highest handle was the $187.2 million established in February, and September’s figure represented a near seven-fold increase from its $26.3 million handle in April during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hold was 6.89%, which resulted in nearly $14.3 million in revenues for the state’s nine casinos and two horse racing tracks offering sports betting. Indiana’s state tax coffers collected nearly $1.4 million in revenue, also bettering the previous high of $1.2 million set in January.
The September tax revenue put Indiana past the $10-million mark since the first sports wager was accepted.
DraftKings continues to dominate online; theScore makes a modest debut
Indiana’s online handle for September also set a new standard with $173.1 million, which accounted for 83.5% of all wagers placed in the state and obliterated the previous high of $145.9 million from February. Despite mobile wagering being available in neighboring Illinois for the entire month of September, DraftKings — which operates via Ameristar Casino in East Chicago just over the state line — generated a handle of $89.4 million last month, an increase of 22.3% compared to its August handle of $73.7 million.
Indiana’s neighbor to the west looks poised to start a friendly rivalry for handle bragging rights, with Illinois reporting a $139.6 million handle in August. DraftKings generated more than $13 million in online wagers there in its first 12 days of operation.
DraftKings and FanDuel again claimed a substantial online market share as the two behemoths combined for $145.9 million in handle. BetMGM was the only other online app to reach eight figures, generating $13.2 million via Belterra Casino as it saw an improvement of 40.7% month over month. BetRivers narrowly claimed honors for fourth with $6.24 million as PointsBet trailed close behind at $6.2 million.
TheScore, which entered Indiana as the second skin of Ameristar Casino and began accepting wagers Sept. 17, generated a $407,678 handle in its first two weeks. That ranked eighth among the nine online skins in the state, with BetAmerica bringing up the rear at $88,832. Unibet saw a modest bump in its second full month of operations via Horseshoe Hammond, accounting for $624,525 of the $1.1 million online handle with Caesars.
The fascination with parlays continues as football flexes
The first month of football saw bettors gravitate in that direction as the single most popular sport for wagers with $48.4 million, but there was a notable upswing in parlays. Bettors placed more than $50.6 million in such bets, nearly doubling the year-to-date total reported by the IGC ($109.9 million) and representing a 16.1% increase compared to August.
