Indiana Online Sports Betting Update

Listen up, Hoosiers: as more details about Indiana online sports betting emerge, it appears there will be sports betting in the state come the start of NFL season. That’s good news for Indianapolis Colts fans, who may want to get a jump on NFL betting tips research by visiting our football resource page. Andrew Luck and the Colts open up the 2019 NFL season on Sunday, September 9 in Los Angeles versus the Chargers.

The Launch of Indiana Sports Betting

The biggest sports betting news out of the Hoosier state during this Independence Day week is that Indiana sportsbooks are preparing to launch on September 1 – the first allowable date under the sports betting bill signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The phrase, “We will sports betting launch by football season!” has been a common one among states that have recently legalized sports betting along with Indiana (Tennessee and Illinois, for example). However, with Tuesday’s release of an Indiana emergency regulations document, the possibility of retail sports betting going live by week 1 of the 2019 NFL season is more realistic than ever.

So, the question on every Hoosier’s mind is: are there any caveats or interesting things about this supposed by-NFL-week-1 launch of sports betting in Indiana? Indeed, there are a few things to note – here’s the shortlist:

Indiana Online Sports Betting Lags behind

The launch we’re talking about here is retail only. The Indiana Gaming Commission will require significant testing before online sportsbooks can get up and running. This will happen in the months following the launch of retail operators. The one nice thing about Indiana online sports betting is that remote registration will be allowed.

How About Integrity Fees?

While there are no integrity fees mandated by Indiana’s bill or regulations, there is an unfortunate caveat. It may be possible for sports venues to prevent betting on the premises if “a specific and credible threat to the integrity of sports wagering at the particular location that is beyond the control of the sports governing body to preemptively remedy or mitigate” exists. You can read more about geofencing a specific sports event in Indiana over on SportsHandle.

There has been much digital ink spilled about how obtuse it is for the leagues to demand integrity fees. In this same vein, not allowing sports betting in sports venues seems incredibly limiting to the state, sportsbook operators and most importantly, Indiana bettors. Here’s hoping the IGC wields this power responsibly. Betting in live venues should only be disallowed in extreme cases where there is somehow a risk for the outcome of a game to be influenced, and not simply because a team or a league asks for it.

Advantage Operators

Much to the chagrin of Hoosiers who call themselves professional sports bettors, operators will be allowed to place wager restrictions on winning individuals or accounts. Per Brian Pempus over on Hoosier State Bets:


Under the “house rules” section, the IGC gives operators the ability to limit the wagering amount without the requirement of providing a reason for doing so. Arguably the most legitimate criticism of the NJ sports betting industry is that bettors are being shut out of betting beyond relatively small amounts. The anecdotes suggest that the bettors facing restrictions are sharps.

Brian Pempus, Hoosier State Bets

Oscars Betting Allowed?

Finally, we’ll close with some positive news out of the Indiana online sports betting emergency regulations. It appears the IGC will allow operators to take bets on non-sporting events, also known as “other events.” The Oscars certainly qualify as an “other” event that Americans would enjoy betting on (and certainly, some already do via offshore books – but that’s a story for another day).

Per the regulations, the outcome of allowable “other” events must be “generated by a reliable and independent process.” So in other words, as long as Warren Beatty isn’t presenting any awards, Oscar betting in Indiana should be good to go!

All things considered – yes, even the bad ones – this update on Indiana online sports betting is a winner simply because we may see action by the time the NFL season gets underway. Happy 4th of July, Hoosiers!

(Top Photo: Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports)