Indiana Sportsbooks Closed 2025 with A December Boom
The month of December 2025 proved to be quite the Christmas present for Indiana sportsbooks, as operators collected $65 million in revenue - more than double their total from the previous December.
That was in spite of the fact that the total amount of wagers, or "handle," was down slightly from December 2024 to $544.4 million. The difference was a 12.1% "hold" rate, meaning the amount of money retained by sportsbooks after paying out winning wagers.
A key to that hold total was that multi-leg parlay wagers - the most lucrative payouts for bettors, on the rare occasions that they win - amounted to $181.4 million of overall bets, eclipsing both basketball ($145.8 million) and football ($142.7 million).
Parlay wagers also led the way in Indiana in January 2026 - an encouraging sign for the state's sportsbook industry that points toward more revenue growth in the future.
As for the battle for the top spot among the state's dozen sportsbooks, this Indiana competition may well be the closest such challenge in the U.S.
In Fiscal Year 2025 - from mid-2024 through mid-2025, and thus the most recent full-year report of the Indiana Gaming Commission - largest handle reported was $1.96 billion compared to second place at $1.75 billion and a distant third-place tally of $413 million.
But in the more important "bottom line" number for sportsbook executives, FanDuel narrowly won the day at $184.8 million in gross operating revenue to $184 million and $41.4 million for its main competitors.
Turning to calendar year figures, Indiana sportsbooks took in $5.72 billion in wagers in 2025 - up 10% from 2024.
Indiana casinos - a long history
While the Nevada casino industry dates back to the 1930s and Atlantic City, New Jersey opened its first casino in 1978, Indiana lawmakers were among the earliest proponents of bringing the gambling option to the Midwest back in the late 1980s.
After years of debate in the statehouse over the concept, casinos finally were approved in 1993, with a dozen cities initially vying for a chance to open their own facilities. Legal battles and pockets of local opposition to the idea delayed the process, but Aztar Casino Evansville finally opened in late 1995.
Riverboat casinos Trump Casino and Majestic Star each followed with openings in Gary in mid-1996, and Empress Casino in Hammond soon followed as the industry continued to expand.
The Indiana Gaming Commission's report for Fiscal Year 2025 ranked Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana as the state leader out of the 13-casino industry with $444.3 million in revenue.
The Horseshoe Indianapolis racino placed second at $332.2 million, followed by Horseshoe Hammond at $250.4 million, the Harrah's Hoosier Park racino in Madison County ($247.4 million), and Caesars Southern Indiana in Harrison County along the Ohio River ($235.3 million).
Blackjack was the top table game revenue producer at $137.2 million, followed by baccarat at $111 million.
In February 2026, Indiana lawmakers approved a proposal for a new casino for the Fort Wayne region in northeast Indiana, an area of the state that currently has no such properties.
iGaming for Indiana?
The history of gambling legalization in Indiana would seem, on the surface, to suggest that it would be an early-adapter of online casino gaming as well. The large tax revenue numbers being collected from iGaming in neighboring Michigan also would figure to bode well for supporters.
And every January from 2023-2026, a bill indeed has been introduced in the statehouse. But there have been complications.
One issue is internal debate among lawmakers whether to lump online casino and online lottery approvals in the same bill. That merger didn’t succeed in 2025, which appears to be why the proposals were split into bills in January 2026.
Then there was the July 2024 conviction for “conspiracy to commit honest services fraud” of a former Indiana House member from Shelby County who had been a member of the committee that had jurisdiction over gambling issues in the state.
Sean Eberhart was sentenced to one year in federal prison after having been found to have conspired with an operator of off-track betting facilities in the state. Eberhart was found to have agreed to have covertly used his status on the committee to advocate for a bill that would have financially benefited the operator.
That conviction further added to skepticism that many state elected officials have over gambling-related bills, so it may be a while before a deal can be negotiated to serve all parties.
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