Indiana's April 2024 Sports Betting Handle Slips Under $400 Million for First Time Since September

Legal sports betting activity in Indiana has experienced a typical spring/summer slowdown, as evidenced by the April handle released Friday. That doesn't mean that our best sports betting sites didn't still have good months.

The Indiana Gaming Commission April report showed that it isn't all bad news for the Hoosier State sports wagering scene. Year-over-year numbers showed impressive double-digit percentage increases while revenues provided an even bigger spike.

It was a split decision in the race to be the best Indiana sports betting app, with each national betting behemoth prevailing in one of the two main measuring metrics for sportsbook operators.

While the betting slowdown is expected to continue through the coming months, Indiana sports betting is in a unique position going forward. The Indiana Pacers continue their march toward an NBA Championship, and Caitlin Clark continues to take women's basketball to new heights as she plays preseason games for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.

$393.9 million handle

Indiana bettors spent $393.9 million with Hoosier State betting sites and brick-and-mortar casinos in the state during April. Residents took advantage of Indiana sportsbook promos over the month.

It is an encouraging 21.9% year-over-year increase from the $321.4 million spent in April 2023 but represents a nearly $107 million drop from the $500.75 million spent in March, when residents of the state were consumed by the March Madness tournament.

Indiana sports betting apps were responsible for $383.5 million of the overall handle in April with retail making up the rest. The lifetime mobile sports betting handle in Indiana eclipsed $15 billion with April's numbers added in.

April's totals also took the year-to-date handle figure to $1.78 billion, which s 16% higher than through the first four months of 2023.

$37.1 million in revenues

Indiana's best sportsbooks generated a total of $37.1 million in gross revenue from April's handle, thanks to a 9.4% hold rate. That figure represents a 26% year-over-year increase from the $29.5 million profits from April 2023. 

However, it is a slight $800K drop from the nearly $39.9 revenue total from March, when the handle was over $100K higher, but the hold rate was 1.8 percentage points lower.

Taxes paid by providers in the state in April came to $3.5 million, taking the total for the year to nearly $16 million. That puts Indiana $2.8 million ahead of last year's pace in terms of overall sportsbook tax contributions.

DraftKings and FanDuel each notch a win

A familiar pattern continued in the April battle of Indiana sports betting apps, with DraftKings winning the handle battle and FanDuel generating the most monthly revenues.

For the eleventh straight month, DraftKings Indiana prevailed in the handle-war with $144.2 million in accepted wagers. Because of a slightly underwhelming 9.1% hold, revenues for the provider came in at $13.1 million.

FanDuel Indiana finished second of 13 mobile state providers in the April handle battle with $128.8 million in accepted wagers. Because of a 12.3% hold, it did top revenues with $15.8 million. April's totals helped FanDuel Indiana surpass $500 million in lifetime revenues in the Indiana market. 

BetMGM Indiana finished a familiar third in the Hoosier State market in April, far behind the top two. It reported $31.1 million in accepted wagers in April and $3.6 million in revenue.

Caesars Sportsbook Indiana was fourth in terms of monthly handle, with $18.3 million in accepted bets. bet365 Indiana continued to make some noise, and during April, it was fourth in terms of revenues in Indiana, with $1.4 million in profits.