Indiana Sports Betting Revenue: DraftKings Tops in October
In the second month of legal sports betting in Indiana, the state saw a big jump in handle and revenue. A large part of this can be attributed to the addition of mobile betting. The Indiana Gaming Commission released figures last week.
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The Rise of Legal Betting in Indiana
Indiana saw nearly $92 million in sports betting wagers in the month of October ($91.7 to be exact). That is an increase of 160% from the month of September ($35.2 million). The majority of those bets were placed via mobile sports betting. Indiana currently has three mobile sportsbooks (FanDuel, DraftKings and Rush Street Interactive).
Football was king in Indiana like it is everywhere else. More than $41 million was wagered on football games in the month of October in Indiana. Thanks to the MLB Playoffs and World Series, baseball accounted for almost $10.5 million in wagers. The NBA regular season didn’t start until the end of the month but still managed a total of more than $6 million in wagers.
For the month of October between both mobile and retail betting, Indiana sportsbooks saw combined revenue of more than $11.5 million. Of that, the state brought in almost $1.1 million in tax revenue.
Mobile is the Key
States without mobile sports betting, or those not considering legal mobile sports betting, will look at Indiana as one of the states who proves that mobile is critical. The mobile market in Indiana is far from fully mature but still managed to bring in big numbers for the state in October. Between the state’s three mobile sportsbooks, Indiana saw more than $48 million in mobile sports betting handle.
DraftKings’ mobile sportsbook was the king in Indiana for the month of October, bringing in over $39.3 million. That number alone was more than the entire state of Indiana saw in September. Rush Street Interactive managed a moderate $6.2 million for the month of October. FanDuel was the last to launch in the state but still managed to get $2.3 million in wagers. November will be the first full month for FanDuel so we can expect to see big numbers out of them this month and possible a dip for DraftKings and even Rush Street Interactive. DraftKings and Rush Street launches on October 3rd while FanDuel didn’t join the party until October 19th.
Future of Indiana Sports Betting
There is no doubt that Indiana is benefiting from the lack of sports betting in Illinois. Chicago area residents can quickly make their way to Indiana to place bets, much like New York City residents traveling to New Jersey. Until Illinois finally launches sports betting, which won’t be until an unknown time in 2020, Indiana will continue to benefit. The Hoosier State is also benefiting from Ohio’s lack of legal sports betting as one of its properties, Hollywood Lawrenceburg, is just a half-hour from Cincinnati.
With FanDuel now having a full month in November, it will be interesting to see how high FanDuel rises and how far DraftKigns drops. Will FanDuel be king in Indiana like they are in New Jersey and Pennsylvania? Or will DraftKings finally be able to claim the king of at least one state? One thing is for sure, Indiana will continue to benefit from the lack of legal sports betting from neighboring states.
