Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Spring Membership Drive


Donate now to support local news and music on WBOI

More Mobile Bets Than In-Person Sports Wagers In First Month

Kartoman
/
Wikimedia Commons

Hoosiers bet about $48 million on sports online last month, the first time such wagers were legally possible in Indiana.

Lawmakers legalized sports wagering this year, with Hoosier casinos first offering the bets Sept. 1. But mobile sports gambling wasn’t ready to go until October, with three casinos offering it via providers DraftKings, Rush Street and FanDuel.

Hoosiers responded by betting more money online in October than in-person at the state’s 13 sports betting locations – $44 million in bets were placed at casinos last month.

And all that sports wagering produced a little more than $1 million for the state in tax revenue. That’s compared to more than $37 million in state revenue generated by all other gambling at Indiana casinos last month.

Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.