Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) data show gross revenue, handle, and tax receipts from online and retail sports betting nearly doubled year-over-year in 2021, illustrating just how popular sports betting has become in the Hoosier State.
December’s handle totaled $463 million — making it the second-highest month in the market’s history for wagers. The handle was just shy of the record $463.7 million mark set in November 2021. By comparison, handle was $313.1 million in December 2020 and $161.8 million one year earlier.
Revenue from the state’s 13 active sportsbooks totaled $25.8 million in December and $306 million for the full-year 2021. By comparison, operators made $24.3 million in December 2020 and $12 million in December 2019. Full-year revenue totaled $154.3 million in 2020 and $41.2 million in 2019.
Meanwhile, tax receipts to the state totaled $2.4 million in December. That was down from $4.5 million the previous month, $2.3 million one year removed, and $1.1 million two years earlier. Full-year tax revenue was $29.1 million in 2021, compared to $14.7 million in 2020 and $3.9 million in 2019.
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Indiana legalized sports betting in May 2019. The first legal retail sportsbooks opened four months later, in September 2019., followed by mobile sports betting in October. The state’s gaming regulations require online sportsbooks to enter a partnership with a land-based casino.
Indiana fell just short of doubling gross revenue, handle, and tax revenue year-over-year. Operators fell $142.9 million short of doubling their handle, while revenue was $2.6 million off the double mark and tax revenue was about $246k short as well.
FanDuel Generates $7.7M in December
FanDuel Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, and BetMGM Sportsbook were by far the three largest operators in terms of revenue, but three others — Caesars Sports, Barstool Sports, and BetRivers — were not far behind, with PointsBet just after that.
In December, FanDuel, which operates retail sportsbooks at two riverboats — the Blue Chip Casino Hotel Spa and the Belterra Casino Resort — and runs its online sportsbook through Blue Chip, led with $7.7 million of revenue. DraftKings, which operates its online sportsbook through the license of Ameristar Casino Hotel, was second with $6.4 million.
BetMGM, which operates one of two online sportsbooks through Belterra, was in third with $3.6 million in revenue.
Barstool was fourth with $2.8 million in revenue. Barstool operates retail sportsbooks at Ameristar and Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, as well as one of two online sportsbooks through Hollywood.
In fifth place was Caesars with $2.1 million in revenue. Caesars operates retail sportsbooks at two casinos — Horseshoe Hammond and Caesars Southern Indiana — and a racino — Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Caesars runs its mobile sportsbook through Horseshoe and Harrah’s.
BetRivers was in sixth place with $1 million in revenue in December. BetRivers runs its mobile sportsbook on the French Lick Resort license and is the partner for the retail sportsbook there.
PointsBet, which runs the second online sportsbook at Hollywood, grossed $781k in December.
The remaining six sportsbooks in the Hoosier State all had less than $200k in revenue for the month. They were Unibet ($195k), WynnBET ($167k), TwinSpires ($151k), theScore Bet ($117k), and Bally Bet ($45k). Betway recorded a loss of $132k in December.
While Unibet runs its online sportsbook through Horseshoe, WynnBET and TwinSpires both run theirs through the Rising Star Casino Resort, and theScore Bet runs a second online book through Ameristar. Bally Bet, which launched in December, is on the license for Bally’s Evansville. Betway runs its sportsbook through Belterra.
Betting kiosks for Winner’s Circle, a sportsbook brand by Caesars, operates in three cities and from inside a racino, the Indiana Grand Casino.
