Caitlin Clark’s impact on Indiana sports betting helped the Hoosier State avoid a major summer slowdown in June.
The Indiana Gaming Commission, which recently released its June report, doesn’t divide basketball between the NBA and WNBA, but the Indiana Fever and their No. 1 overall draft pick are likely reasons for a 38% year-over-year increase in basketball wagering.
In a basketball-centric state, the sport produced $33.3 million in bets for the month despite fewer offerings compared to May, when $97.2 million was wagered. Only the NBA Finals, which lasted five games, provided big-time basketball wagering.
Did Clark make up the difference? Optimove Insights recently found that betting jumped 380% on games involving the Fever compared to the baseline game. Fans are flocking to games to see Clark, so it’s no surprise her presence in the state affects Indiana sports betting action.
The Hoosier State generated June adjusted gross revenue of $30.5 million, up nearly 57% from the same month in 2023, on a handle of $298.2 million, thanks to a 10.2% hold. While that’s down 17% month-over-month, it’s up 33% year-over-year.
Halfway mark
The first six months of 2024 have produced $2.4 billion in wagers in the Hoosier State while revenue has increased 25% from the same period in 2023 to $237.4 million.
Indiana’s 12 online sportsbooks accounted for more than $290 million of June's overall handle and have generated nearly $2.4 billion of wagers since January. In-person betting at casinos and racinos contributed $10.4 million to June's handle and $90.7 million halfway through the year.
Sports betting operators paid out $2.9 million in taxes in June, filling state coffers with over $22.5 million in revenue to date in 2024.
DraftKings rules
| Operator | June handle | June revenue |
|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | $113.1 million | $9.9 million |
| FanDuel | $83.6 million | $11.7 million |
| BetMGM | $28.2 million | $3.5 million |
| Caesars | $17.4 million | $768,600 |
| bet365 | $14.4 million | $1.3 million |
| ESPN BET | $9.8 million | $1.1 million |
DraftKings took the top spot with $113.1 million in June handle, besting FanDuel by $29.5 million in the amount wagered. However, FanDuel’s impressive 14% hold gave the online sportsbook the revenue edge.
BetMGM enjoyed a double-digit win rate in June that gave the third-placed online sportsbook $3.5 million in revenue on a handle of $28.2 million. Caesars took in the fourth-most bets in the Hoosier State but a 4.4% hold put a damper on revenue of under $1 million.
Both bet365 and ESPN BET cleared that profit mark with less handle as bet365 was the only other operator in Indiana to surpass $10 million. ESPN BET produced a hold of 11.5% while the state’s second-best win rate of 12.5% went to Betway, which announced last week that it’s exiting the U.S. market.
Diamond dominates
With plenty of MLB betting options in June, baseball led individual sports in the Hoosier State with a handle of $83.5 million, up 13% from the amount wagered in May.
“Other” sports combined to take in $90.4 million in wagers. Parlay action was down 13.6% from the previous month to $88.1 million in June. Football still generated nearly $2.7 million in bets despite a down month for the NFL and college football.
