With football season finally coming to a close, Super Bowl betting helped the sport boost Indiana’s handle one last time.
Bettors throughout the Hoosier State placed over $187 million in wagers throughout February. That’s an increase of almost 10% from January’s $171 million mark.
The college football season wrapped up in January along with most of the NFL playoff games, so the Super Bowl was the only real betting event for the sport in February.
Despite that, Hoosiers still bet $12 million on football last month. Without that Super Bowl boost, the state’s handle would have grown less than 3% from January to February.
The state has football to thank, in part, for that hike. However, basketball was already Indiana’s most popular sport for betting, but the sport’s handle continues to go up from month-month.
In January, Hoosiers bet almost $60 million on basketball. That number catapulted up to over $90 million in February.
February’s betting activity created over $11 million in revenue for Indiana’s sportsbooks, and over $1 million in taxes for the state.
February 2020 Indiana sports betting numbers
Here’s a look at Indiana’s casinos and the sports betting numbers they created last month.
| Licensee | Online Brand(s) | Total Handle | Online Handle | Retail Handle | Gross Revenue | State Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ameristar East Chicago | DraftKings | $79,971,894 | $74,110,276 | $5,861,618 | $6,047,650 | $574,585 |
| Blue Chip | FanDuel | $65,935,858 | $63,833,235 | $2,102,623 | $2,665,685 | $195,715 |
| Horseshoe Hammond | $12,391,845 | $0 | $12,391,845 | $52,445 | $102,387 | |
| French Lick | BetRivers | $8,054,464 | $7,666,808 | $387,656 | $375,884 | $35,710 |
| Hollywood Lawrenceburg | $6,803,081 | $0 | $6,803,081 | $308,577 | $43,947 | |
| Harrah's Hoosier Park | $4,510,204 | $0 | $4,510,204 | $301,764 | $25,739 | |
| Indiana Grand | $4,469,396 | $0 | $4,469,396 | $516,760 | $49,131 | |
| Caesars Southern Indiana | $2,215,524 | $0 | $2,215,524 | $16,774 | $14,212 | |
| Tropicana Evansville | $1,563,318 | $0 | $1,563,318 | $31,513 | $9,137 | |
| Belterra | BetMGM | $934,291 | $70,061 | $864,230 | $59,348 | $3,247 |
| Rising Star | BetAmerica | $336,347 | $212,953 | $123,393 | $5,554 | $0 |
| Total | $187,186,221 | $145,893,333 | $41,292,888 | $10,381,954 | $1,053,811 |
Online betting responsible for 78% of bets
As expected, online betting continues to be the driving force for Indiana’s market. Bettors throughout the state placed almost $146 million in online wagers in February. That’s a huge chunk of Indiana’s handle.
Almost 78% of all of Indiana’s bets last month were placed online. That is the biggest percentage of online betting in Indiana yet, jumping up from 72% in January.
DraftKings and FanDuel continue to run the table in the Hoosier state. The two heavyweights accounted for about 95% of Indiana’s online bets in February.
That’s essentially leaving the competition in the dust.
It’s getting even harder to climb the mountain for Indiana’s other sportsbooks. BetRivers’ handle last month was almost identical to its total from January. In fact, it actually shrunk by about $100,000.
BetAmerica’s handle did increase in its second full month of action, but the sportsbook still only brought in $200,000 total.
BetMGM was the only new sportsbook to launch in Indiana during February. The newcomer only brought in $70,000, but it also launched on Feb. 25, which only gave it a few days to bring in bets for the month.
FanDuel is closing the gap with DraftKings
DraftKings has been on top since sports betting started in the state, but FanDuel is working on shrinking that lead.
In December, DraftKings pulled in over $40 million more than FanDuel. That gap shrunk to about $16 million in January.
Last month, FanDuel was able to push things even further.
DraftKings only brought in $11 million more than FanDuel did during February.
If the that trend continues, the two sportsbooks will be neck and neck for the lead in Indiana’s online market before long.
Horseshoe Hammond still the biggest retail player
When it comes to in-person bets in the Hoosier State, Horseshoe Hammond is still on top.
Since it’s located right next to Chicago, the casino gets a big boost from out of state visitors every month.
Horseshoe Hammond brought in over $12 million in retail bets last month, which was by far the biggest total in the state.
Second place for February went to Hollywood Lawrenceburg, which brought in almost $7 million. Much like Horseshoe Hammond, Hollywood Lawrenceburg gets a nice boost from being nearby a major city, Cincinnati.
Ameristar East Chicago rounds out Indiana’s top three for retail betting in February.
Although the casino’s overall numbers get a boost from its online partnership with DraftKings, Ameristar’s retail handle only comes from bets placed in-person at the casino. Despite that, Ameristar brought in almost $6 million from those in-person bets, which is a pretty nice haul.
March will be all about basketball
With conference tournaments for college basketball and March Madness getting started soon, that number will probably increase yet again in March.
This will be the first time that Hoosiers can bet on the tournament since sports betting became legal, so it’s expected to be a big hit.
Overall, Indiana’s market should continue to grow. New sportsbooks will help out with that expansion.
PointsBet became the sixth online sportsbook in the state when it came online on March 5.
The more sportsbooks in the state, the more options there are for Indiana bettors.
That should continue to help the sports betting market expand throughout the state as time goes on.
