Indiana casinos generate $69M in taxes for March

The state’s 12 casinos produced adjusted gaming revenues of $217.9 million for the month. That was down 3.4% from the March 2022 total of $225.7 million. After deductions brought the taxable revenue to $211.4 million, the state received $65.4 million in wagering taxes for the month. It also received $4.6 million from the supplemental tax, which nine casinos pay, based on admissions.

The overall revenue decline came even though three of the top four revenue-generating casinos saw year-to-year increases. Hard Rock North Indiana in Gary reported taxable revenues of $38.2 million, up about $1.3 million from last year. Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville saw revenues rise $1.4 million to $29.2 million, and Caesars Southern Indiana in Elizabeth enjoyed a $2.2 million jump to $23 million.

However, those gains were nearly negated by the $4.7 million decline Horseshoe Hammond reported. The casino next to the Illinois state line in Northwestern Indiana reported taxable revenues of $27.9 million last month.

Through the first nine months of the fiscal year, the state’s casino wagering tax is down $1.2 million from last year to $415 million, and the supplemental tax is down more than $730,000 to $37.6 million.

However, the state’s gaming tax revenue has increased from last year thanks to the strong performance of sports betting operators. Combined with the sports betting tax, the state has received $484.4 million in taxes through the first nine months of the fiscal year, up from $478.6 million last year.

March continued an ongoing trend for the state’s sportsbooks. For the fifth time in the last six months, year-to-year handles, the amount wagered, dropped, but taxable revenues increased.

Fueled by the NCAA basketball tournaments, Hoosier bettors wagered $433 million. That’s a 9.2% drop in activity from March 2022. Still, the 14 in-person sportsbooks and 13 online operators generated $42.8 million in revenue, up more than 32.5% from last year.

Indiana taxes sports betting revenue at 9.5%, and the $4 million generated last month was $1 million more than it received in March 2022.

Part of the reason for the increased sports betting revenue is likely due to increased parlay betting. A parlay allows a person to make multiple wagers on a single bet. The payouts are higher, but so are the risks, as just one losing leg causes the bettor to lose their entire stake.

In March, the IGC reported bettors wagered $127.9 million on parlays, up from $121.3 million the year before.

Both FanDuel and DraftKings continue to dominate the Indiana market. DraftKings took $144.2 million in wagers, and FanDuel accepted $136 million, giving the two online gaming giants nearly 65% of the betting traffic. They owned an even bigger share of the revenues, holding a combined 69.2% share. FanDuel reported $16.2 million, while DraftKings earned $13.4 million.