Hoosier State sports bettors found basketball much more enticing than they did last year as the Indiana Gaming Commission reported that wagers on basketball increased over 35% in May 2024 than a year ago at that time.
Indiana Has the Fever
Indiana has always been a basketball hotbed and sports bettors in the Hoosier State proved it in May with a 35.5% year-over-year increase. The reports revealed that May 2024 showed a handle of $97.2 million, which was $25.5 million more than May 2023. The surge in hoops betting is attributed to the Pacers’ deep run in the NBA playoffs as well as the hoopla surrounding the WNBA’s local entry, the Indiana Fever, and its rookie phenom, Caitlin Clark.
May’s overall sports betting handle in Indiana was $361.6 million, which was a 25.6% increase over the same time last year. The hold or win rate in May was 10.8%, which delivered $39 million in adjusted gross revenues for top-rated sportsbooks, which was a 15.4% rise from last year in that category. The state share of that revenue was $3.7 million in the form of tax revenue.
Despite the year-over-year increases, April’s handle of $393.9 million was over $30 million higher than May’s but that is to be expected as there are more betting options in April. Indiana sports betting has had a successful year thus far as the state’s sportsbooks’ revenues are up 21.6% compared to the first five months of 2023 and have generated $206.9 million while the state has collected $19.7 million in taxes over the first five months, which is $3.3 million higher compared to the same time last year.
DraftKings No. 1 in Handle
Boston-based DraftKings was the most popular sportsbook in Indiana in May, boasting a $132.7 million handle while FanDuel claimed the second spot with a $112.1 million handle. However, the latter posted a hold of 14.1% generating $15.8 million in revenues while the former managed a 9.5%-win rate which delivered a $12.6 million profit, over $3 million less than their FanDuel rivals.
The first five months reflect the same story with FanDuel generating $82.5 million in year-to-date revenues, which is $11 million more than DraftKings due to its higher hold percentage. However, DraftKings has taken in $113.6 million more in accepted bets than FanDuel for a five-month handle of $793.3 million.
BetMGM secured the No. 3 spot with $31.2 million in accepted wagers generating $2.5 million in revenue derived from its 7.9% hold.
Caesars led the rest of the operators in handle with $19.2 million but due to its meager win rate of 6.6%, it manifested just $1.3 million in revenue. The next spot in total handle belonged to Bet365 with $16.5 million in wagers but its 8.3% hold generated slightly more revenue than Caesars at nearly $1.4 million.
ESPN BET was next with a $14.4 million handle but because of its 10.6%-win rate, its revenues were slightly better than both Caesars and Bet365 with $1.5 million in revenues for the month of May. The remaining five operating sportsbooks including Fanatics, BetRivers, Betway, Bally Bet, and Hard Rock Bet all had lower handles and revenues.
