SBK Sportsbook is finally getting closer to its Indiana launch.
The operator just snagged its temporary vendor license from the Indiana Gaming Commission. That’s a major step towards launching a sportsbook in the state.
SBK is already up and running in Colorado, so Indiana will be the sportsbook’s second US market.
Foreign sportsbooks come to Indiana
Slowly but surely, operators from other parts of the world have been making their way to Indiana.
PointsBet became the first foreign sportsbook to enter the market when it opened for business earlier this spring. The Australian-based company has been a fixture of Indiana’s sports betting scene ever since.
Unibet and theScore Bet also joined in by launching in Indiana a few months later.
Now, it’s SBK’s turn to join the party. The London-based operator has been working on its expansion into Indiana for over a year.
However, SBK isn’t the only European operator on its way to the Hoosier State. 888Sport will also be launching in Indiana during 2021.
When it comes to launch timelines, SBK is further ahead in the process.
888 still needs to obtain its temporary vendor license, so SBK could launch at least a handful of months before 888 has a chance to.
SBK and Rising Star Casino Indiana partnership
The partnership between Smarkets and Full House Resorts is giving SBK market access to Indiana. Smarkets is the company that owns SBK, and Full House owns Rising Star Casino in southern Indiana.
In Indiana, every online sportsbook has to have a retail casino partner. The Smarkets-Full House deal makes Rising Star SBK’s partner in the Hoosier State.
Rising Star will certainly be hoping that this second partnership works out better than the first one.
The casino originally partnered up with BetAmerica when the sportsbook launched last year, but things have hardly been smooth sailing for the company.
BetAmerica has been the least successful sportsbook in the state during the majority of its Indiana run.
The only time it’s been able to rack up a bigger handle than any of its competitors is when a new sportsbook launches in the final few days of a month.
For example, William Hill opened its digital doors in Indiana on Oct. 26. BetAmerica’s $180,000 October handle barely edged past William Hill’s $150,000 haul.
However, since William Hill was only taking bets for five days that month, its numbers surely would have shot past BetAmerica if it had been open for business longer. Even a few more days likely would have done the trick.
So now that Rising Star is about to bring SBK into the fold, the casino will be hoping this new partnership actually makes some money.
There’s no way to know for sure until SBK starts taking bets, but it would be tough to strike out as hard as BetAmerica has with Hoosiers.
