Professional and college football games pushed sports betting in Indiana to more than $460 million in October.
Indiana sportsbooks shattered the state record for betting volume for the second consecutive month, according to the latest analysis of state gaming data by PlayIndiana.com. The surge also made Indiana the fifth state to reach $5 billion in lifetime sports wagers.
“Five full weekends of the NFL and college football, the opening of the NBA season, and baseball’s postseason gave sportsbooks a rare convergence of betting inventory in October,” said Jake Garza, an analyst for PlayIndiana.com. “To surpass the previous record by so much shows an increasing base of bettors, too.”
Online and retail sportsbooks drew $461.1 million in October, easily surpassing September’s record handle of $355.4 million by 29.7%, PlayIndiana.com reported. October’s handle was up 99.7% from $230.9 million in October 2020.
Bettors increased the pace of betting to $14.9 million per day over the 31 days of October from $11.8 million per day in September and $7.4 million in October 2020, PlayIndiana.com said.
Despite the surge in betting, gross revenue fell 16.4% to $27.8 million from the record of $33.3 million set in September. Year-over-year, revenue was up 10.9% from $25.1 million in October 2020.
October’s win created $27.6 million in taxable revenue, yielding $2.6 million in state taxes.
The record month helped Indiana join other legal sports betting states New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Illinois as the only states to generate a handle of more than $450 million in a month, more than $5 billion in lifetime legal sports betting, and more than $400 million in lifetime gross revenue, PlayIndiana.com said.
Since launching in 2019, Indiana sportsbooks have generated, $5.1 billion in wagering; $412.5 million in gross revenue; and $78.3 million in tax revenue.
“No state has capitalized on its potential as a sports betting market better than Indiana,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayIndiana.com. “As impressive as some of these records have been, it is also important to remember that Indiana as a market still hasn’t fully matured.”
Online betting drew $411.9 million in wagers, or 89.3% of October’s total handle. DraftKings led online operators in October with a $150.7 million handle, up from $130.4 million handle in September.
