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Casinos across Indiana failed to beat their performance from February 2023 when it came to taxable gaming revenue. The blame for a marginal decline can be laid solely at the feet of slot play.
The casinos’ other gaming segments, sports betting and table games, mitigated those losses in a year-over-year comparison. Additionally, Indiana online sportsbooks performed well enough to change the narrative completely.
Decline in slot revenue produces physical gaming revenue downturn
Indiana’s 13 brick-and-mortar casinos combined to report over $195.5 million in taxable revenue for February 2024 from their poker, slots, sportsbooks, and table games. That’s a marginal decrease compared to February 2023 Indiana casino revenue.
Slot play accounted for the vast majority of that gaming revenue at $162.6 million, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission. However, slot revenue was also the culprit for the annual downturn.
Slot revenue was down slightly compared to February 2023’s $170 million. Meanwhile, table game revenue ($36.9 million) was up marginally and physical sportsbook revenue ($3.9 million) increased by 99.6% in a year-over-year comparison.
Online sportsbook activity didn’t see a similar bump of over 99% but still more than pulled its weight in February 2024.
Indiana’s online sportsbooks enjoy winning February
Indiana’s 12 online sportsbooks reported over $34 million in taxable revenue for the 29 days of February 2024. That represents an 18.7% improvement upon the same figure from February 2023’s 28 days.
That also helped push forward what might be a very strong fiscal year for Indiana’s regulated sports betting industry. Through the first eight months of the current term, taxable revenue from physical and online sportsbooks is up marginally compared to FY2022-23.
However, the state’s revenue from physical poker, slots, and table games is raining on that parade, currently down 6.1% for the fiscal year. Thus, the entirety of taxable gaming revenue in Indiana for the current fiscal year is down slightly.
For February 2024, Indiana stands to collect over $62.8 million in taxes on all of this gaming activity. Indiana sportsbooks have a chance to push themselves further into the black and that should speak to the missed opportunity costs Indiana’s gambling industry as a whole is currently bearing.
March could push sportsbook numbers into significant territory
Through February, taxable revenue from sports betting is currently hanging right on the edge of statistical relevance for the current fiscal year when it comes to year-over-year growth. Thus, March Madness is coming at the right time.
This could be a strong year for sportsbooks due to local interest. On the men’s side, Purdue has been prognosticated as the tournament’s top overall seed, while Indiana State is having one of its best seasons ever.
Both Indiana University and Notre Dame could be top-five seeds on the women’s side. That could aid in a strong March for sportsbooks in the state. At the same time, there are many variables.
Another form of online gambling that does not face the same volatility is online casino play. While Indiana’s legislature took a serious look at legalizing such play in 2023, it’s been off the table in 2024.
That likely means Indiana is leaving millions of dollars in monthly tax revenue from such gaming on the table. Regardless, the table is set for a busy March in Indiana. What remains to be seen is what the casinos and sportsbooks will serve up.
