Sports betting in Indiana started 2021 strong with nearly $350 million in wagers.
PlayIndiana.com, citing state data, said January wagering totals marked five straight months of record betting.
“This will be a particularly important year for Indiana's sports betting industry,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayIndiana.com. “Illinois and Michigan, which were two feeder markets in the early days of sports betting in Indiana, will continue to grow and Ohio is moving toward regulating sports betting, too, so sportsbooks will increasingly have to rely on in-state bettors, (with) that said, the market continues to prove more than capable of standing on its own.”
Indiana sportsbooks accepted $348.2 million in wagers in January, according to official reporting released Feb. 12. That is up 103.9% from $171 million in January 2019 and topped the previous record of $313.1 million set in December.
January's wagering resulted in a record $29.3 million in adjusted gross operator revenue, up from $12.2 million in January 2019. The month's bets yielded $2.8 million in state taxes.
If the growth continues through 2021, the state could top $3 billion in bets, more than $200 million in revenue, and $20 million in state taxes, according to PlayIndiana projections.
“Assuming we don't have any interruptions in the sports schedule like in 2020, a new high is almost assured in 2021,” said Dustin Gouker, analyst for PlayIndiana.com. “The biggest question is how much higher? That depends in large part on how well the market responds to increasing competition from its neighbors.”
The NBA season enjoyed its first full month of games while college basketball settled into a more robust conference. Bettors responded with $133.2 million in wagers on basketball, accounting for 38% of the state's handle.
January also got a boost from an expanded NFL playoffs with two additional games over Wild Card weekend, including one with the Indianapolis Colts, which helped football draw $77.6 million in bets.
Online betting generated 85.1% of January's handle, or $296.5 million.
DraftKings/Ameristar Casino accounted for 35.2% of the state's January handle with $122.6 million in bets, producing $9.4 million in gross receipts. FanDuel/Blue Chip Casino was second with $89.2 million in bets, and BetMGM/Belterra was third with $52.4 million.
Retail sportsbooks produced $51.7 million in January wagers, up from $47.4 million in January 2020. Hollywood Lawrenceburg, nearest Cincinnati, led the retail market with a $13.4 million handle.
