Buoyed by UFC 249 and the Match II featuring Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, sports betting in the state of Indiana surged to more than $37 million in May, according to the figures released Wednesday by the Indiana Gaming Commission.
More than 80% of the handle — generated exclusively online due to the COVID-19 pandemic — came from the category the IGC labels as “other,” which for May was everything outside of football, basketball, baseball, and parlay bets. The loaded fight card from May 9 and the charity golf outing that also had former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady fell into that category, as the $30.4 million “other” handle outstripped April’s overall betting handle of $26.3 million in the Hoosier State.
The seven casinos that can offer mobile sports betting — Caesars, through Horseshoe Hammond, went live late last month — reported slightly less than $3.2 million in revenue, resulting in a hold of 8.5%. The revenue was nearly double the April figure of $1.6 million and created $302,907 in tax revenue.
Since going live last September, Indiana has collected nearly $7.2 million in tax revenue from sports betting on a cumulative handle of more than $932 million.
Ameristar, Blue Chip dominate while Caesars joins in
Ameristar Casino and Blue Chip Casino, whose online operators are DraftKings and FanDuel, respectively, dominated the handle. The pair accounted for $32.4 million, or 87.5%, of the state’s overall handle and 90.9% ($2.89 million) of the revenue. Ameristar accounted for more than half of the handle, generating $20.1 million.
Horseshoe Hammond, which like Ameristar can draw patrons from Chicago, became the most recent casino to offer mobile through Caesars. Indiana’s leading retail sportsbook went live online late last month after both the UFC card and the Match II and generated a handle of $8,063.
Indiana’s 13 casinos have been authorized by the IGC to re-open as early as Monday morning.
