Indiana’s handle climbed to $409m during the month of February, due in large part to bets placed during last month’s Big Game, according to a report from PlayIndiana.
Though February’s numbers dropped by almost $100m compared to January, the Hoosier State had a strong month overall. Analysts expected a decline from January’s handle because of February being a shorter month, with only four weekends of sporting events compared to the previous month’s five weekends.
The breakdown for February reflected similar betting trends from the last couple months. Indiana residents bet $30.1m on football, $201.9m on basketball, $97,000 on baseball, $101.3m on parlay and $74.2m on other sports.
Basketball betting has been a rising trend statewide, grabbing the top spot in the breakdown of wagers every month since last December.
Analysts expect the trend to continue throughout March due to the high probability of three Indiana teams playing in this year’s NCAA tournament. Notre Dame, Indiana University and Purdue are expected to make the cut this year.
As Indiana gears up for March Madness, analysts anticipate wagers placed at sportsbooks in Indiana to beat last year’s March Madness figures by a wide margin. They project that basketball wagers will generate close to $200m for the month of March.
This figure could double the amount of bets placed during this time last year. Indiana bettors placed $116m in wagers on basketball during March 2021.
The upward trend is not limited to basketball. According to the report, Hoosiers are betting more in general on sporting events than they were a year ago.
