Sports betting is coming to Indiana just in time for the start of football season.
The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) has confirmed that sports betting in Indiana will go live on Sunday 1 September.
Once sports betting goes live on Sunday, Indiana will become the thirteenth state to offer legal and regulated sports betting.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the IGC issued its first round of sports betting authorizations to five casinos in the Hoosier State.
Of the five casinos, three will launch land-based sports betting operations on Sunday. These casinos include Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago, Hollywood Casino & Hotel Lawrenceburg and Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.
Horseshoe Hammond was granted approval to launch sports wagering operations on 4 September and French Lick Casino was given the green light to launch sports betting on 6 September.
The five casinos listed above will launch sports betting operations in time for the first weekend of the 2019 NFL season.
Sara Gonso Tait, Executive Director of the IGC said: “These five casinos have substantially demonstrated to the satisfaction of the commission that they’ve met every requirement so far.”
More sportsbooks to come
Two other gambling venues that wished to launch sports betting before NFL season kicked off were not granted approval on Wednesday. These venues were the Winners Circle off-track betting parlor in downtown Indianapolis and Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City.
Several other casinos are hoping to launch sports betting operation in the coming weeks.
A report published by the Indianapolis Star, details which casinos hope to launch sports betting in September. These casinos include:
- Belterra Casino in Florence: Sept. 9
- Winner’s Circle off-track betting in Clarksville: Sept. 12
- Winner’s Circle off-track betting in New Haven: Sept. 19
- Harrah’s Hoosier Park in Anderson: Sept. 19
- Tropicana Evansville: September
- Horseshoe Southern Casino in Elizabeth: September
Mobile betting coming soon
Although Indiana lawmakers legalized online and mobile sports betting, it is not yet clear when mobile betting will go live in the Hoosier State.
The state regulator and sportsbook operators have yet to propose a launch date for online betting in Indiana.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Tait said:” We have received mobile-related materials and submissions. We’ve had some things happen as related to mobile that are essential. GeoComply is now a licensed supplier, which is huge. The emergency rules already contemplate mobile.
“We’re all focused on retail right now, but we’ll be able to very quickly shift to mobile once that’s requested.”
Sports betting in Indiana
Indiana became the tenth state to legalize sports betting after the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018.
Governor Eric Holcomb signed HB 1015 into law in May, legalizing land-based and state-wide mobile sports betting.
In recent months, the Indiana Gaming Commission published its proposed sports betting regulations and published a list of sports that bookies can take bets on.
