It certainly didn’t take long for sports betting to take hold in the state of Indiana. Recent reports show that more than $1 billion dollars were wagered in the state in less than one year.
That is a massive total that’s exceeded all expectations. Additionally, the industry continues to increase with each passing month. The total handle more than doubled in the month of July alone, and that is a trend that shows no signs of stopping as more sports return to live action.
Revenues Keep Increasing
Taking a look at the sports handle in the month of July, over $70.9 million dollars in wagers were placed. That was more than double the handle in June. Furthermore, there was also an impressive 128% jump in tax revenue between June and July, which means the state brought in a lot more money.
This September will mark a full year that sports betting has been legal in Indiana. Up to this point, the industry has been a massive success. Expectations are high moving forward into August and September. In fact, some industry insiders believe that Indiana could do even bigger numbers in their second year.
What Are People Betting On?
It appears that Indiana sports bettors are placing action on several different sports. Major League Baseball (MLB) made a huge splash when it returned on July 23rd. MLS also returned shortly after along with the NHL and the NBA.
In addition to those major sports, golf, table tennis and NASCAR all put up respectable numbers in the month of July.
It should be noted that parlay bets also made up for the big increase in revenue between June and July, as sportsbooks took in $15.6 million dollars on parlays in July versus only $6 million in June.
What Are the Expectations Moving Forward?
Now that August is almost halfway done, experts are looking ahead to September to make their predictions. By all accounts, sports betting is expected to continue to be a healthy market well into the fall especially with the NFL set to begin in mid-September.
Some state leaders are concerned with how Illinois’ sports betting market will affect Indiana as residents from the neighboring state were coming over and placing wagers.
Only time will tell how big of an impact this will have on Indiana’s gaming industry, but many experts are suggesting it won’t cause too much of a ripple as the sports betting market will continue to remain robust.
Of course, a large part of the optimism for September and beyond is centered on the NFL staying the course and not being postponed like College Football. If the NFL has a work stoppage then the industry will be left without any of the major sports for most of October until the beginning of December.
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
