Sportsbooks in Indiana accepted $348.2m in wagers in January, putting the Hoosier State on track to bring in more than $3 billion in bets this year.
The January handle increased 103.9% from $171m in January 2019, and was up from the previous record of $313.1m set in December.
Indiana’s operators saw a record $29.3m in adjusted gross revenue in January, more than double the adjusted gross revenue of $12.2m in the same month one year earlier, and up from $24.1m in December 2020.
Indiana’s state government collected $2.8m in taxes last month.
According to analysts from PlayIndiana, the January 2021 handle in the state set a record for the fifth straight month. They said the figure was particularly impressive as sports betting launched in neighboring Michigan.
“This will be a particularly important year for Indiana’s sports betting industry,” Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayIndiana.com, said in a statement. “Illinois and Michigan, which were two feeder markets in the early days of sports betting in Indiana, will continue to grow. And Ohio is moving toward regulating sports betting, too. So sportsbooks will increasingly have to rely on in-state bettors. That said, the market continues to prove more than capable of standing on its own.”
Online betting generated 85.1% of January’s handle, or $296.5m, up from 84% in December.
If sports betting in Indiana continues to grow this year, the state could top $3 billion in bets, more than $200m in revenue, and $20m in state taxes, according to PlayIndiana projections.
“Assuming we do not have any interruptions in the sports schedule, as in 2020, a new high is almost assured in 2021,” said Dustin Gouker, analyst for PlayIndiana. “The biggest question is how much higher? That depends in large part on how well the market responds to increasing competition from its neighbors.”
