Indiana sports betting soars as January handle tops $500m

After falling short of setting a new handle record in December, Indiana sports betting was off to a great start in January as bettors staked a massive $500.1 million through the month. The figure is a new high for the Hoosier State, surpassing the previous record of $463.7 million set in November by 7.8%.

When compared to the month prior, January’s betting handle was 8% higher than the $463 million reported in December 2021, and it was also up by 43.6% from the $348.2 million wagered in January 2021.

The activity generated $35.6 million in revenue for licensees in the state, a 38% jump from the $25.8 million won in December. The hold also showed an increase of 21.3% year-on-year when compared to the $429.3 million won in January 2021.

When it comes to tax revenue, the Indiana Gaming Commission collected $3.4 million from licensees in the month, up by 38% from $2.4 million in December. Indiana sportsbooks remit 9.5% of their adjusted gross receipts to the state every month.

Online vs retail

The online market has been the lifeblood of Indiana’s regulated sports wagering industry since operations began in September 2019. As of January 2022, licensees across the state have handled $6.5 million in wagers, with $5.6 billion coming in via online and mobile sportsbooks. The value of wagers staked through mobile platforms since the launch of the market represents 85.8% of Indiana’s overall betting handle.

For the month ended January, mobile betting accounted for 93.1% or $465.5 million of the state’s sports wagering handle, an 8.3% increase from the $429.8 million posted in December 2021. The figure is a new record for Indiana’s online market, beating the previous record of $430.1 million achieved in November 2021 by 8.2%.

A breakdown of the betting handle shows that basketball was the most wagered-on sport during the month, which is not surprising since the NBA and NCAA basketball seasons were in full swing. The amount staked on the sport in January was $192.4 million, up from $148.5 million in December.

Parlay betting placed second with $122.6 million in wagers for the month, while football ranked third with $118.3 million in bets. The handle for baseball was $24,156, and all other sports combined to post $65.1 million in wagers.

DraftKings still rules Indiana’s online market

DraftKings Sportsbook remained the top operator in Indiana in terms of internet handle in January after taking in $159.8 million in wagers. The operator’s gross receipts for the month amounted to $9.5 million.

The second most popular mobile sportsbook for Hoosiers was FanDuel, which reported $126.4 million in wagers and a hold of $7.6 million during the month. Caesars posted $54.9 million in handle and $1.4 million in gross receipts to claim the third spot, with BetMGM following closely in fourth place with $53.2 million in bets and $5.0 million in taxable revenue.

Barstool had the fifth-highest handle in the state at $18.9 million, with BetRivers and PointsBet following closely with $16.8 million and $16.0 million in online wagers, respectively.

The top operator in the retail market was Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg. The physical sportsbook at the facility took in $13.2 million in bets for the month of January, although the establishment’s retail betting revenue was $120,845 in the red.

Ameristar Casino in East Chicago had the second-highest retail handle at $6.8 million, and its revenue for the month was $651,236. Horseshoe Hammond came in third with $4.8 million in bets and $594,781 in gross receipts.