The Indiana Gaming Commission reported on Tuesday that state sports wagering operators claimed $23.5 million in adjusted gross revenue for August as the Hoosier State wrapped up its fourth full year of betting by surpassing $1.1 billion in all-time operator revenue.
The August revenue amount was down 7.5% compared to August 2022, as the 9.9% sportsbook win rate was eight-tenths of a percentage point lower on a relatively flat handle. The $238.1 million worth of accepted wagers, though, was up 16.8% compared to July, as football and parlay wagers ramped up. Football handle increased more than eight-fold month-over-month to $17.3 million, while the $70.7 million in parlay bets was up 25.8%.
Indiana launched sports betting in September 2019 and has been a steady presence around the top 10 for monthly handle nationally. Though the year-to-date handle of $2.5 billion is 9.7% lower compared to the first eight months of 2022, Indiana is within $11 million of becoming only the seventh state to reach $13 billion in the post-PASPA era.
The state saw an inflow of $2.2 million in tax revenue for August, lifting the 2023 total above $22.6 million. Indiana’s taxes from sports wagering are running slightly more than $3 million ahead of last year, as revenue is up 14.6% despite the drop in handle. The 9.5% hold through the first eight months of the year is more than two percentage points higher versus the same period in 2022.
DraftKings wins handle, FanDuel wins revenue
While DraftKings and FanDuel have been eternal rivals for Indiana mobile sportsbook users with more than $8 billion handle between them, DraftKings has recently regained the upper hand in terms of handle. It has topped FanDuel for three straight months after accepting $94 million worth of bets in August, and the $23.2 million spread was the largest between them since a $33.4 million gap in January 2022.
DraftKings claimed $7.6 million in revenue as its hold neared 8.1%, but FanDuel again took top honors in revenue as its win rate — just shy of 12% — resulted in $8.5 million in winnings. FanDuel has posted a hold of 11% or higher in the Hoosier State for 14 consecutive months, and it is at close to 12.3% for 2023. Despite DraftKings having a higher year-to-date handle by $61.5 million, FanDuel has generated $25.8 million more in revenue.
BetMGM, however, snuck into the top spot for the highest hold among major operators at 13.1%, keeping $2.6 million of the $20 million handle for August. Continuing to hold off Caesars as the No. 3 mobile option, BetMGM has a 10.7% hold for the year and claimed $24.6 million in winnings.
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Caesars surpassed $200 million in handle for 2023 as it took $16.9 million worth of wagers in August, and the 8.3% hold resulted in $1.4 million in revenue. It was a good enough month to get its year-to-date hold above 6%, as Caesars has picked up $12.5 million in winnings for the year.
BetRivers posted back-to-back double-digit holds for the first time in the Hoosier State, with its 11.3% win rate for August its highest outside the COVID-19 pandemic. It kept $730,000 from the $6.5 million handle to craft a hold above 11% for the second time overall.
PointsBet could not do likewise, as its hold plunged nearly six percentage points to 7.7% While it came close to $400,000 in revenue for August, that was 22.6% lower compared to July despite a 40.6% bounce in handle.
Mobile operators combined for $22.1 million in revenue, fashioning a 9.9% hold on $223.8 million in bets. The online hold for 2023 is 9.6% on more than $2.3 billion handle.
Running AUGUST Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.12B
2 Maryland $263.7M
3 INDIANA $238.1M
4 Iowa $141.3M
5 Kansas $94.4M
6 West Virginia $19.9M
7 Montana $3.2M
8 Delaware $2.4M
9 TBA
10 TBA#SportsBettingTwitter #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 12, 2023
Hollywood Lawrenceburg still digging out
Though Hollywood Lawrenceburg posted its best hold of the year at 19.6% and had $209,000 in revenue, it is still $393,000 in the red for the calendar year after bettors came out close to $1.3 million ahead in the first three months of 2023.
Getting back to even has been tougher as bettors in neighboring Ohio and now Kentucky no longer need to cross state lines to make legal wagers. The PENN Entertainment venue’s handle of $29.5 million this year is down 57% compared to the first eight months of 2022, while revenue is down 106.3%.
Brick-and-mortar locations had a collective hold of 10.4% as they kept $1.5 million of the $14.3 million wagered. Sportsbooks at the state’s two racinos and three Winner’s Circle spots had a more modest 8.5% win rate as they combined for $580,000 in revenue from $6.9 million handle.
