Indiana Sports Betting Bill Passes Through House, Expected To Go Down To The Wire

• Indiana sports betting bill IN SB 552 has now passed through both the State Senate and House of Representatives.
• The bill will need to pass through a final conference committee between the two legislative chambers in order to be presented to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Sports betting in Indiana is something that both legislative chambers seem to agree on. However, the rules and regulations to come with the activity seem to be a bit unclear.

Earlier this week, the Indiana House of Representatives voted to approve the sports betting bill S 552, amid many changes made on the House floor. One of the most important changes involves the removal of mobile sports betting.

The bill, sponsored by Indiana Senator Jon Ford, will now go back to the Senate for concurrence. Since Ford does not believe the Senate will concur with the changes he has set up a conference committee to resolve the differences before sending the bill to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.

The conference committee will include 10 members each from the State House and Senate, but the final vote will come from one Republican and one Democratic member from each chamber.

The committee is expected to meet next week, but a final decision between the lawmakers will have to be made almost immediately then. The Indiana legislative session is scheduled to conclude on April 29 meaning that lawmakers will have one last shot to get it right if they want to legalize the activity this year.

What Is Currently In The Indiana Sports Betting Bill?

After a total of 30 amendments made to the bill, and with mobile sports wagering in Indiana being taken out for the moment, many are wondering what is left to vote for.

As the bill currently stands there are a few key takeaways. The first being that the agency in charge of overseeing sports betting in Indiana would be the Indiana Gaming Commission.

They are in charge of ensuring that all the land-based sportsbooks pay a tax rate of 9.5% on adjusted gross receipts received from sports wagering and that 3.3 percent of tax revenue received be deposited into an addiction services fund.

The bill will allow gambling facilities in the state to partner with sportsbook providers and they will be able to provide betting lines for both professional sports and collegiate sports. This is surprising given the fact that Indiana is home to the NCAA headquarters, a league that has long opposed sports wagering.

The bill will also approve the movement of two riverboat casinos that are currently located in Gary, IN. One of them will move closer inland, but the other would move to Terre Haute in Vigo County. Both would be allowed to host sportsbooks if the bill passes.

However, supporters of mobile sportsbooks argue that in order to fully capture the IN sports betting market and to deter people from offshore sites they will have to have online legal sports betting sites made available by the state.

News tags: IN SB 552 | Indiana | Indiana sports betting