The Indiana Gaming Commission reported $32.1 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for August on Thursday, a figure boosted by adjustments of close to $2.7 million in operators' favors.
Those adjustments helped increase revenue 36.3% compared to August 2023. That outpaced the 29.3% rise in handle to $307.9 million as the Hoosier State edged over $3 billion in accepted wagers for the calendar year. The 10.4% hold when including the adjustments marked the fourth consecutive month it reached double digits, matching the longest streak in state history (July-October 2022).
In completing its fifth year of commercial sports wagering, Indiana has generated $17.85 billion in all-time handle and $1.58 billion in AGR. The Hoosier State taxes AGR at 9.5%, which has resulted in $149.9 million worth of levies since the first bets were taken in September 2019.
Indiana collected slightly more than $3 million in state taxes for August as handle was up 17.9% from July and revenue ticked 10.4% higher.
Notable Adjustments for Ameristar, Blue Chip
Running August Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.44B
2 Maryland $377.4M
3 North Carolina $370.5M
4 Tennessee $342M
5 INDIANA $307.9M
6 Iowa ~$167M
7 Kansas ~$147M
8 Oregon $56.2M
9 Maine $35.6M
10 West Va. $31.4M#SportsBettingX#GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 12, 2024
The IGC does not delineate how the adjustments are broken out between retail and mobile sportsbooks for each casino licensee, but Ameristar and Blue Chip — tethers to the two largest online operators DraftKings and FanDuel, respectively — accounted for more than $2.2 million worth of adjustments, with Ameristar having the larger total at over $1.3 million.
When removing adjustments from revenue totals, DraftKings notched its first double of being tops in Indiana for handle and revenue since last November. It claimed $9.9 million in winnings from $111.5 million handle, good for an 8.9% win rate as it topped $100 million in revenue for 2024.
FanDuel had its first sub-10% hold since March, landing at 9.9% while keeping $9.2 million of the $93.1 million worth of accepted bets. Despite DraftKings opening a gap of $177.9 million handle between the mobile titans for the calendar year, FanDuel has a $12.6 million lead in revenue thanks to a 12.2% hold on $934.4 million in handle compared to the $1.11 billion DraftKings has raised.
BetMGM maintained its status as the No. 3 option for mobile bettors in Indiana, attaining a 9.8% win rate for the second straight month and posting $3 million-plus in revenue from $30.8 million in handle. Caesars did enough to fend off both bet365 and Fanatics Sportsbook for the fourth spot for revenue, claiming $1.4 million from $16.8 million worth of bets to notch an 8.5% hold.
Bet365 rounded out the top five for both revenue and handle, nearing $1.2 million from $14.8 million in wagers. Fanatics, meanwhile, posted back-to-back seven-figure hauls for the first time since entering the Hoosier State in late February, edging near $1.1 million with an 8.6% hold against $12.7 million handle.
ESPN BET had a 9.9% hold for August, resulting in $812,200 in revenue from $8.2 million in accepted bets. Year-over-year handle was up 31.4% from predecessor Barstool Sportsbook, while revenue surged 58.2% as the win rate was nearly 1.7 percentage points higher.
Retail Sportsbooks Hammer Public
Though a portion of the $1.7 million in revenue generated by brick-and-mortar sportsbooks is likely football futures counted as monthly winnings, the other truth is the 21.4% hold is the highest monthly mark in nearly two years since a 23.3% win rate in October 2022. Indiana's two racino-based sportsbook and three Winner's Circle off-track betting locations also did their parts, combining for a 23.3% hold to net $490,800 from $2.1 million handle.
Three venues topped $200,000 in winnings, led by Ameristar with $222,200. Hard Rock Northern Indiana in Gary edged out Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg for the second spot as its $205,900 was $2,600 better than the PENN Entertainment venue near the Ohio and Kentucky borders.
