With sports across the country grinding to a halt over COVID-19 concerns, gamblers are running out of options.
Bettors were looking forward to the first March Madness tournament since Indiana legalized sports betting, but with its cancellation, gamblers will have to wait until next year.
Professional sports would have been a natural alternative. However, that’s become more difficult since the NBA, MLB, NHL and the PGA Tour are all suspended as well.
There are still sports available to bet on, even though the number of events to pick from has been trimmed down.
What Indiana’s sportsbooks are still offering
Mixed martial arts fights are still ongoing. The next big MMA event is UFC 249 on April 18, where Khabib will face off against Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title.
That’s a bit of a wait for MMA bettors, but it will at least be a return to normalcy for the night if the event goes on as planned. However, MMA is pretty much the only “regular” sport that hasn’t put things on hold.
With so many of the usual betting sports no longer available, it’s a great time to try new things. Although Europe’s most popular leagues have called things off, soccer fans still have a few options.
Betting on Australia’s A-League and the Belarus Premier League are still available. The German soccer cup DFB-Pokal is also still moving forward with events.
DraftKings, BetMGM, and PointsBet are offering odds on all three of those leagues.
For some, the especially physical style of Australian rules football might make it an interesting new option for betting. The game is played with a football, except points are scored by kicking the ball through posts rather than getting into an end zone.
Bettors can find odds for Aussie rules football at all of Indiana’s online sportsbooks except for BetAmerica.
Rugby is another option bettors could try. Australia’s National Rugby League is still operating without cancellations. Betting on the NRL is available at DraftKings, BetRivers, BetMGM, and PointsBet.
If bettors are looking to branch out even further, table tennis betting is also available.
The Table Tennis Cup is probably new to most people, but DraftKings recently had odds on the event to give gamblers one more option.
Indiana Gaming Commission approves new sports
Indiana will have a few more betting options down the line.
The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) approved several new leagues for betting on March 19. That puts a few more things on the board for Hoosiers.
Here’s a look at what sports and leagues the IGC approved.
- MOTO GP: Motorcycle racing
- NBL: Australia’s National Basketball League
- NBB: Brazil’s “Novo Baquete Brasil” basketball league
- B.League: Japan’s Basketball League
- South Africa Cricket: Momentum One Day Cup
- Rugby: European Challenge Cup, the Premiership Rugby Cup and Super Rugby are now approved.
- US Open Cup: Knock-out style soccer tournament
- Table Tennis: All events from the International Table Tennis Federation and the European Table Tennis Union
Despite all of the new additions, most of those events have been postponed or canceled due to COVID-19. Some table tennis events like the Table Tennis Cup are the only ones left standing.
Even though it’s now legal to bet on them, all of those events might not be offered at every sportsbook. Some sportsbooks might only decide to pick up a few of the new options. Others might decide to pass on the bunch altogether.
Regardless of how things shake out, the new additions show that things are still expanding.
With the IGC adding new betting options, Hoosiers will have a wider selection than ever once sports resume throughout the country.
