The Indiana Gaming Commission reported adjusted gross sports wagering revenue totaling $42.8 million for March on Wednesday, with operators winning more compared to last year despite less handle.
The revenue total ranks fourth all-time in 43 months of activity in the Hoosier State despite adjustments lowering the figure by $616,000. Six of the top seven all-time monthly revenue totals have come in the last eight months of wagering. It was the highest revenue total since the house claimed $46.9 million last October and was the fifth time it cleared $40 million.
Handle was slightly above $433 million, ranking eighth all-time and up 21.6% from February. But it was also 9.2% lower than March 2022. Indiana sportsbooks were likely impacted by the first-round upset of No. 1 seed Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, while Indiana University did not fare much better in making a second-round exit. Basketball wagering accounted for more than half the handle at $224.3 million, with parlay bets reaching $127.9 million.
The hold was 9.9%, the sixth time in nine months it was 9.8% or higher. The 8.8% win rate for the first quarter of 2023 is 2.7 percentage points higher than the opening three months of 2022, contributing to revenue surging 26.2% higher to $107 million despite a 12.2% dip in handle to $1.2 billion.
The state received just over $4 million in tax receipts for March, lifting the total to $10.3 million for the year and $2.3 million more than the first quarter of 2022.
FanDuel tops in mobile, DraftKings in handle
All-time Top 10 #SportsBetting handles post-PASPA (thru March in CAPS):
1 New Jersey $35.7B
2 Nevada $31.1B
3 NEW YORK $21.7B
4 Pennsylvania $20.3B
5 Illinois $18.7B
6 INDIANA $11.7B <-NEW
7 Colorado $11.2B
8 Michigan $9.8B
9 Virginia $9.1B
10 Arizona $8.4B#GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 12, 2023
FanDuel continued to ride roughshod over the Indiana betting public, pacing all mobile sportsbooks with $16.2 million while posting an 11.9% hold on $136.1 million handle. It was the ninth consecutive month FanDuel had a win rate of 11% or higher, but its quarter-over-quarter revenue declined by 10% to $47.1 million.
The drop-off came despite a hold above 12% for the first three months of the year. Handle compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 slipped 5.5% to $391.2 million.
DraftKings took top handle honors for the second straight month, reaching $144.2 million. Its March revenue of $13.4 million resulted in a 9.3% hold and was within $302,000 of its all-time high established last September.
BetMGM also topped 11% for hold, as it claimed $4.5 million in revenue from $40.1 million in accepted wagers. It was the seventh double-digit win rate in the last nine months for BetMGM, which again finished behind Caesars Sportsbook for the No. 3 spot in Hoosier State handle.
Caesars’ handle of $40.9 million was its most since taking $54.9 million in bets in March 2022. Its win rate bounced almost six percentage points higher from February, landing at 8.1% to claim more than $3.3 million in revenue.
BetRivers rounded out the top five for both handle ($11.6 million) and revenue ($1 million), with the latter marking the first time it posted a seven-figure revenue total since December 2021. Barstool Sportsbook was within $153,000 of BetRivers for handle, but its 7.7% hold was more than a full percentage point lower than BetRivers, resulting in $878,000 in revenue.
Seven of the state’s 13 mobile sportsbooks had a hold of 8% or better, with Bally Bet leading at 13.5%, though its handle was only $127,000. Betway reported a four-digit loss for the second straight month, paying out $3,862 on top of $473,048 handle.
Hollywood Lawrenceburg’s losing continues
March #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #Indiana via IGC. Mobile/Retail Handle/Revenue/Hold
Mobile: $404.04M/$40.58M/10.04%
Retail: $28.98M/$3.17M/10.94%Note: Adjustments revised AGR down $615,845.
3/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 12, 2023
Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, the top generator of retail handle, became the first brick-and-mortar venue in the state to have three consecutive losing months when not including those impacted by the pandemic. Its loss of $28,804 was far smaller than those in both January and February, but the Barstool-powered book is down nearly $1.3 million for 2023 after generating $13.7 million in revenue last year.
Belterra Casino avoided a similar fate, as it claimed almost $138,000 in revenue from $546,237 handle in March for a robust 25.3% hold. The $180,000 swing to the positive from February nearly wiped out January and February losses, as Belterra is down only $3,638 for the year.
Indiana’s two racino sportsbooks and three Winner’s Circle locations had their best month of the year, posting a 16.9% win rate on $7.8 million handle to claim $1.3 million in revenue. The Winner’s Circle in Clarksville topped $4 million handle for just the third time and posted a 17.2% hold to keep $697,000 in winnings.
The Winner’s Circle locations in Indianapolis, New Haven, and Clarksville routed the betting public in March, combining for a 17.5% win rate while claiming close to $1.1 million in revenue from $6.1 million in accepted wagers.
