Author:

Richard Miller

Last Updated:

June 4, 2021

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Author

This author was thoroughly tested and approved by the experts at BettingBilly.com before joining the editorial board to ensure a high content quality.

Author Bio:

 

Richard was Marketing Manager at a global bookmaker and worked in the enterntainment sector for decades before working his way up in the world of entrepreneurs. His focus areas are mainly in the fields of sports and politics. He has a Science Degree, visited Harvard University and is now our hardworking Editor-in-Chief at BettingBilly.

Richard was Marketing Manager at a global bookmaker and worked in the enterntainment sector for decades before working his way up in the world of entrepreneurs. His focus areas are mainly in the fields of sports and politics. He has a Science Degree, visited Harvard University and is now our hardworking Editor-in-Chief at BettingBilly.

Indiana Online Sports Betting in 2021

With many American states now legalizing sports betting, Indiana was quick to jump and seize this new opportunity. The Indiana sports betting bill was signed by Governor Eric Holcomb on May 8, 2019 and first bookmakers in the state launched just before the NFL betting season 2019 kicked off. Today, players can wager in over a dozen live and online sportsbooks in the state, with a great variety of sports and markets offered for both retail and online betting.

Sports betting in Indiana was legalized in mid-2019, with the bill stipulation that the Indiana Gaming Commission would be in charge of issuing gaming licenses for sports betting throughout the state. Major Indiana based casinos were quick to answer the call and by September 2019 several of them had launched their sports betting programs, just in time for the NFL season.

The Indiana betting bill did not put many restrictions in place as to who can organize sports betting, but in order to apply for a license, the operator must run a live casino within the state borders. This means that only a limited number of operators can have the license, and most of these have already successfully applied for one, with over a dozen live betting stops in the Hoosier state at this time.

The live betting stations in Indiana are open to all persons over the age of 21, whether they live in Indiana or are only visiting. Both Americans and foreigners over the Indiana sports betting age can place bets at the live casinos, racetrakcs and off-track facilities that accept single match bets.

The Indiana sports betting regulations stipulated the legalization of online betting sites along with the retail sports betting back in May 2019. It took a bit of time before the first online bookies were launched, but online betting launched officially in October 2019.

As expected, not all the local casinos were as fast and diligent with launching their online programs and finalizing partnerships with various sports betting operators, which is why some of them still don’t have a live online betting product. However, a number of casinos did quickly find partners to launch online sites and today 8 out of 10 sports bets made in Indiana are already being made over the internet.

When it comes to online sports betting in Indiana, players can enjoy a good selection of betting sites and different betting options within them. Each of the operators offers both single match and parlay betting and live sports betting is available for players looking to capitalize on ongoing matches.

Each of the online betting operators must be licensed by the Indiana Gaming Commission and can only operate in cooperation with one of the Indiana based casinos that also have a sports betting license. This greatly limits the number of potential online betting providers, but the number seems to be sufficient to cover the 6 million strong population of the state.

In order to bet online, players must be at least 21 years old and must create a free user account with one of the operators. Players who don’t normally live in Indiana can still create an account with these operators, but they must provide proof of identity and a physical address they are registered to in order to be able to wager real money with Indiana online bookmakers.

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The year 2019 was the one that saw a major change in gambling landscape for Indiana, with the sports betting bill finally introduced and players given the ability to make real money wagers in both live and online locations. In addition to their online sites, the operators who are granted a license are also given the right to operate mobile sports betting. The first Indiana sports betting app was DraftKings, which launched in October 2019, and numerous others followed in the months after.

Mobile betting apps in Indiana are now available for all major mobile devices, most notably the iOS and Android powered devices such as iPhones and Samsung phones as well as tablet devices powered by these operating systems. The mobile apps give full access to the comprehensive betting lists of all major operators and are subject to the same regulations and safety measures that are imposed on the online bookmakers in general.

Historically speaking, Indiana has always been a basketball state, with the vast majority of sports fans supporting the University of Indiana basketball team above all else, which will make basketball betting likely the most popular in this state. The IU men’s team has been one that brought glory to the state for many years and college sports available for sports betting, those IU bets are sure to be coming in large numbers.

However, Indianapolis Colts have turned up the heat when it comes to football in Indiana as well, after winning their historical 2006 NFL title. The title winning team produced thousands of new NFL fans from those who used to not care too much about the sport, making the Hoosier state twice as proud for their heroes.

Today, the fight between basketball and football rages in many fans’ hearts, but the real truth is that most of them could hardly be happier to see any Indiana based team win a game, so we can expect them to be piling up bets on both of these as well as other Indiana based sports teams in their attempts to support their boys and bring even more glory back home.

The introductions of legal sports betting in Indiana was a major boost to the state’s tax income, which was the main goal of the legislators who drafted the sports betting bill. Since they wanted to significantly increase the taxation income, they made the bill fairly broad in what is allowed, with the majority of all sports and sporting events available for gambling within the state of Indiana.

As one would expect, bettors can wager on popular American contests like the NFL or NBA. The bookmakers tend to give most attention to games in which local teams are playing as these get the most bets placed on them, which is why they also offer more markets than any other games.

Apart from such major local events, the Indiana bookies also offer betting on international sporting events, although to a lesser extent. College sports, which are banned in some other states, are available for betting in the state of Indiana, which may even bring some bettors from the neighboring states in which sports betting is not legalized just yet.

There are practically no restrictions as to what the bookmakers in Indiana can offer on their lists, apart from amateur sports that involve minors. Such sports cannot appear on the spreadsheets and it would be illegal to place a bet or offer betting on any high school or other amateur game played by minors in Indiana.

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Indiana is not a state with a favorable history for gambling of any kind. The original Constitution of the state included a ban on lottery, which was widely considered to be a ban on all forms of gambling for many years. It was not until the late 1980s that things started to change, making Indiana one of the last states to actually start legalizing gambling.

In 1988, the Hoosier Lottery was formed, following a favorable referendum. The next year, the Lottery started selling scratch off tickets as well for some instant win opportunities and pari-mutuel betting was allowed. Hoosier Part and Indiana Downs racetracks opened up in the following years, as the state’s first and only racetracks.

During the 1990s, the state of Indiana saw a hard fought battle between the proponents and opponents of casino gambling. In the end, this legal and legislative battle ended up with the state opening up riverboat casinos for the most part, with ten such establishments currently in operation, along with a single land based casino in French Lick.

In 2019, following the repealing of PASPA on the federal level, Indiana sportsbook betting finally became legal as well. All the live casinos could now apply for retail and online betting licenses and most did, giving birth to about a dozen new sports betting sites in the state in total.  Today, the state of Indiana allows retail, online and mobile sports betting, but other online gambling activities like poker and casinos are not yet legalized within the state.

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Conclusion: Indiana Sports Betting

Fans of sports betting in Indiana can finally rest easy and enjoy their favorite hobby with Indiana sports betting sites now finally available. If you like sports betting, check out the legal Indiana bookmakers on our site, find out what you can bet on and set up free accounts with these sportsbooks to start placing your real money wagers.

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