The Indiana Gaming Commission reported Monday that legal sportsbooks earned more than $45.2 million in adjusted gross sports wagering revenue in October, as operators kept the heat on the betting public with a 10.5% hold.
It was the third time in the last four months the Indiana sports betting win rate topped 10%, with August’s 9.9% hold the lone outlier. Four of the state’s 13 all-time double-digit holds in 50 months of wagering have come in 2023 — all in the last six months — and the October hold ranks seventh overall.
Despite topping the standard industry hold by some 50% in October, year-over-year revenue was down 3.6% because the $429.7 million handle was 3.7% lower compared to October 2022. This year’s October revenue ranked fourth all-time but was also dragged down by more than $900,000 in adjustments in operators’ favor.
The Hoosier State handle for October was just enough to enter the state’s top 10 all-time, replacing the $427.2 million worth of accepted wagers in January. The state received just shy of $4.3 million in tax receipts for the month, lifting the year-to-date total to $30.9 million.
The $3.3 billion handle for the first 10 months of the year is 7.3% lower than 2022, but revenue is up 6% to $322.7 million. That’s because the 9.7% hold entering the final two months of wagering is 1.2 percentage points higher than last year at this time.
FanDuel, DraftKings lead in different metrics
Running post-PASPA Top 10 #SportsBetting handle by state (thru Oct in CAPS)
1 New Jersey ~$41.5B
2 Nevada $35.15B
3 NEW YORK $31.67B
4 Illinois $25.35B
5 Penn. $23.89B
6 Colorado ~$13.9B
7 INDIANA $13.82B
8 Michigan $11.97B
9 Virginia $11.88B
10 Arizona $11.69B#GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) November 13, 2023
There are few states where FanDuel and DraftKings vie for monthly handle honors as tightly as Indiana, where the two mobile betting app leaders have cleared $1 billion handle for the second consecutive year. Though FanDuel has been runner-up in handle for five months running, its vise-like grip on the top revenue spot runs to 20 consecutive months.
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That is largely due to its dominance in the parlay market, which has contributed to FanDuel posting a hold of 11% or better each of the last 16 months. FanDuel had a record $146.4 million handle in October, and the 12.3% win rate it enjoyed resulted in $18.1 million in revenue, ranking third in its history in Indiana.
DraftKings countered with a state record for handle for the second consecutive month — this time cresting $170 million — and the 10.3% hold led to its best revenue month in Indiana with $17.5 million. That was more than $2.4 million above September’s short-lived standard, as DraftKings hit $104.4 million in 2023 revenue and eclipsed its full-year 2022 total of $100.6 million.
While DraftKings has generated nearly $129 million more handle than FanDuel in Indiana this year, FanDuel’s 12.2% hold for 2023 has resulted in $130.6 million in revenue and a spread of nearly $26.3 million between the mobile powerhouses.
BetMGM was a solid third in both revenue and handle, as its $3.7 million-plus revenue came from $35.9 million worth of wagers. Its $297.7 million handle through the first 10 months of 2023 is down 28.1%, however, versus the same period in 2022. BetMGM’s 10.7% hold this year has offset some of that decline, but year-over-year revenue is down 21.3%.
The falloff of PENN Entertainment’s mobile Barstool Sportsbook — which is scheduled to relaunch as ESPN BET on Tuesday — has been more pronounced. PENN’s sportsbook finished behind PointsBet — the two share Hollywood Lawrenceburg as their retail tether — in handle for the second time this year. Both topped $7.7 million, and the now-Fanatics owned mobile book outperformed PENN by nearly $213,000 in revenue after claiming nearly $760,000 in winnings.
Handle for PENN’s sportsbook operations is down 33.9% to $80.3 million compared to the first 10 months of 2022, while revenue has plunged 49.6% to nearly $4.6 million. PointsBet, meanwhile, has amassed $5.7 million in revenue from $63.8 million handle this year, good for a 9% win rate.
Southern Indiana takes a hit in retail handle
Kentucky‘s entrance into legal sports wagering, first in retail at the end of September and now with full-fledged mobile that launched last month, has had an impact on some Indiana brick-and-mortar venues in the Hoosier State. Caesars Southern Indiana, which is situated on the state line near Louisville, saw month-over-month handle plummet more than 55% to just over $838,000.
Year-over-year handle was down 7.7% heading into October at $18.3 million, but it is now 18.8% off, as the year-over-year handle for October was down 77.6% from 2022.
Hollywood Lawrenceburg, which has dealt with lower traffic all of 2023 following Ohio‘s launch to start the year, had also previously been able to draw business from Kentucky in addition to Cincinnati. Now it saw its year-over-year October handle crater by 85.5% to $1.7 million.
Once the bellcow of Indiana’s brick-and-mortar scene, Hollywood Lawrenceburg’s year-to-date handle of $33.1 million is down 63.4% versus the first 10 months of 2022. Revenue is down a whopping 97% to $326,110, as the PENN Entertainment venue has spent most of the year digging out of a $1.3 million hole created in the opening quarter by the betting public.
There was some good news on the retail front from the other side of the state. The Northwest Indiana trio of Ameristar, Horseshoe Hammond, and Hard Rock finished less than $35,000 shy of $1 million in revenue while combining for a 17.3% hold on $5.6 million handle.
Overall retail revenue totaled slightly more than $2.5 million while operators crafted a 14.3% hold. The state’s two sportsbooks at horse racing tracks and three Winners Circle off-track locations combined for close to $875,000 in revenue from $6.2 million worth of accepted wagers, good for a 14% win rate.
The state’s year-to-date overall retail revenue of nearly $17.8 million is down 44.7% from the comparable period in 2022, exacerbated by a 9.5% hold that is more than 2.3 percentage points lower than last year. Handle has dropped 31.1% for the year to $187.2 million.
