Last month was another strong month for regulated sports betting operators in Indiana, judging by details released from the regulator in the state.
Sports Betting Handle Increases to $382.5M in September
The gambling regulator in the state, the Indiana Gambling Commission, has released its latest report, revealing financial details for the sports betting operators in the state for September. Overall, the betting handle last month hit $382.5 million. This result showed strong growth and marked an increase for a second month in a row.
A month earlier than September, in August, the sports betting handle hit $238 million, putting an end to months-long decline. When compared to the $238 million in betting handle from August, the result in September marks a significant increase of nearly 61%. It’s no surprise that the betting handle result from last month was higher than the betting handle reported back in July. In fact, the $206.6 million in betting handle from July marked the lowest betting handle for the year so far.
When compared year-over-year, the betting handle increased as well. Last year, regulated betting operators reported a total of $355.4 million in betting handle for September. A comparison to the result from last month shows that this year, the betting handle increased by 7.6%.
Sports Wagering Tax Increases, Taxable AGR Soars
Based on the reported sports betting handle last month, the taxable adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the operators was $51.2 million. This result translates to $4.9 million in sports wagering tax. It’s no surprise that with the betting handle increasing, so did taxable AGR. In August, the taxable AGR was $25.4 million, which means that a month later, in September, it doubled. Similarly, taxes in August halted at $2.4 million. When compared to the $4.9 million in sports betting tax reported in September, another significant increase is observed.
Last year in September, taxable AGR reported by sports betting operators halted at $33.9 million. This year, the $51.2 million in taxable AGR marked an increase of 51% when compared to September 2021. Not unexpectedly year-over-year taxes for the same period increased as well. The $4.9 million in sports wagering tax reported in September marks a significant increase of more than 50% when compared to the $3.2 million reported in September 2021.
Lawmakers in Indiana legalized sports betting back in May 2019. Then, the state launched its legal retail sports betting market in September of the same year, while in October, online sports betting was introduced as well. Currently, operators pay a 9.5% tax on their sports betting revenue. While a big part of that revenue boosts the state’s general fund, Indiana allocates a share of the funds to help problem gambling programs.