Indiana Wins Record $355M Monthly Handle in September

Following the return of the NFL season, Indiana has seen a surge in sports betting to the point of besting previous monthly records in September, with a $355.4 million handle. The previous monthly sports betting handle record was held by January 2021, when sportsbooks in the Hoosier State racked up a cool $348 million handle.

The stellar September performance resulted from an average of $11.8 million that sports fans spent on sports wagers per day, 40.68% more than the average daily expenditure in bets for August. As a result, the total monthly handle in September ended up being nearly 65% higher than the $215.6 million handle seen in August 2021. Looking at a year-over-year comparison, sports bettors in Indiana spent 71% more than the $207.5 million handle recorded for September 2020.

Owing to September’s shining handle, the Hoosier State racked up $33.3 million in revenue, a figure that also blew past January’s record revenue that stood at $29.3 million. The all-time high income won last month generated a total of $3.2 million for Indiana’s tax coffers.

So far in 2021 (January to September), both retail and online sportsbooks in Indiana have generated a combined handle of $2.4 billion, which translates to $206.6 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR). Both the sports betting handle and the resulting GGR for the first 9 months of this year have topped the $1.8 billion handle and $136.4 million GGR generated for the entire 2020 calendar year.

Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA network, commented on Indiana’s impressive growth in the following statement:

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“The bar has been set much higher for Indiana’s sports betting market and could double the wagering from last year. Indiana remains one of the five largest sports betting markets in the country, and the growth is showing few signs of letting up at this point. Sportsbooks should approach $4bn in wagers for the year.”

Football Reigns After Making a Strong Comeback

As was expected, football was the best performing sport in terms of money spent on wagers, at $148.5 million in September. This is a remarkable jump in handle compared to the $13.8 million that Indiana residents spent on football wagers in August. However, as impressive as the increase is, it’s worth noting that August was a month of NFL preseason games, whereas September was full of the real action despite a slow start.

In September, the second favorite sport to wager on for Sports Bettors in the Hoosier State was basketball, which saw a $52.8 million handle. In August, baseball had seized the top spot as the most popular sports wagered on, and it is expected to maintain its strong performance in the coming months. The MLB calendar has plenty of wagering opportunities for sports betting fans, and postseason action could also keep fans occupied.

As for September 2020, football garnered a handle of $48.4 million whereas, baseball recorded a handle of $30.5 million. Back to September 2021, basketball also saw significant action as the third favorite sport with a handle of $5.2 million. Meanwhile, parlays and other sports racked up substantial handles at $91.9 million and $52.2 million, respectively.

Following the impressive showing, especially for football, Nicole Russo, another analyst for the PlayUSA network, shared a few words saying:

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“Football remains king, even when the Colts get off to a slow start as they did in September. A busy schedule of Indiana, Notre Dame, and Purdue football certainly helped boost interest, too. The bottom line, though, is that the state’s industry continues to grow and mature; and that will likely lead to even stronger months ahead as baseball’s postseason starts and the NBA returns.”

Nicole Russo further pointed out that the future of sports betting in Indiana will likely enjoy plenty more action owing to the marketing efforts that have been going on. He added that:

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“Operators use the increased interest in betting that inevitably comes with football season to increase brand awareness and eventually carve out market share. With so many brands operating in Indiana, the competition for deals with other high-profile brands like the Colts are fierce, but they can help boost visibility.”

Online Sportsbook Continue to Top the Indiana Sports Betting Market

Like in all other US states where online and mobile sports betting is legal, online and mobile sportsbooks brought in the most handle after producing a total of $320.1 million in sports wagers. This represents 90% of the total sports betting handle in September. Of all the licensed online sportsbooks in the Hoosier State, DraftKings was the best performer after processing a handle of $130.4 million.

FanDuel came in at a distant second place with an online sports betting handle of $77.2 million, whereas BetMGM rounded up the top 3 best-performers in Indiana with a $37.1 million handle. Finally, Caesars, Barstool, and PointsBet sportsbooks trailed the market leaders after seeing handles worth $30.7 million. $16.1 million and 11 million, respectively.

Interestingly, when it came to the gross gaming revenue for online sportsbooks, FanDuel came in at the top with $10.6 million, besting DraftKing’s $7.2 million GGR.

On the other hand, retail sports betting facilities were responsible for $35.3 million, or 10% of the total handle in September. The handle from retail sportsbooks was significantly higher than the $20.4 million handle that the same venues produced in August. For the land-based sportsbooks rankings, Hollywood Lawrenceburg, near Cincinnati, facilitated the most sports wagers with $11.5 million in bets, followed by Ameristar East Chicago with a $5 million handle. Horseshoe Hammond landed in the third position with a total of $4.2 million in sports wagers.

Like in online sportsbooks, the tables were turned when it came to the GGR generated. The Blue Chip sportsbook in Michigan City recorded the highest GGR with $10.7 million, followed by Ameristar East Chicago and Hollywood Lawrenceburg with revenues worth $8.3 million and $4.9 million, respectively.