Indiana Sports Betting Handle, Revenue Both Decreased In June

• Indiana totaled a $29.8 million betting handle in June and collected $2.9 million in sports betting revenue. This raised $277,600 in state taxes.
• Handle was down 20% from May; revenue was also down 8%. It is strange to see betting handle and revenue decrease after casinos began reopening in mid-June.
• One major North American sports league (MLS) has already returned, and three more are set to return by early August, which should bolster revenue in the near future.

INDIANAPOLIS – Despite an expected uptick in sports betting interest in June, Indiana saw a moderate dip in both betting handle and revenue for the month.

Total June sports betting handle was just $29.8 million, from which sportsbooks collected $2.9 million in revenue — a hold rate of 9.81%. The state of Indiana collected $277,600 in sports betting taxes.

The handle represented a 20% decrease from the $37.4 million handle posted in May, while the total revenue was also an 8% decrease.

Sportsbooks seemed to be on an upward trajectory in May, and the first Indiana casinos reopened to the public in mid-June, albeit with heavy restrictions on occupancy and mandatory social distancing.

It would have been logical for this to lead to another increase in betting handle and revenue, especially as major global professional sports leagues returned to action in June. Instead, Indiana sportsbooks saw financial regression.

Major League Baseball is set to return to play at the end of July, and Major League Soccer has already returned with the MLS is Back tournament. The NBA and NHL are preparing for an early August return.

On paper, major North American sports leagues like this should be huge drivers of sports betting revenue, and it would be shocking if handle and revenue did not increase drastically in July and August.

Indiana Sportsbooks And COVID-19

Indiana currently sits at slightly under 52,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The rate of new daily infections has remained relatively steady since mid-April.

Casinos should be able to remain open as long as they adhere to public health recommendations of sanitation and social distancing.

Online betting in Indiana is also very accessible, with dozens of domestic and international online sportsbooks for bettors to choose from. Even if a spike in infections were to force casinos to close once more, online sports betting should remain popular.

The biggest question mark right now is whether the decrease in betting handle and revenue in Indiana in June is a one-month aberration or if it is indicative of another problem, like waning consumer interest in betting on sports.

Projecting the future with so many unknown variables is difficult, but with so many popular sports leagues set to return in a short period of time in late July and early August, it seems likely that betting handle and revenue will increase markedly in the coming months.

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