The NCAA college basketball tournaments apparently spurred quite a few Hoosiers to reach for their phones or computers last month to place a bet on the games.
Data released Friday by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) show $553.6 million was legally wagered on sports in March — nearly all of it on individual basketball games or parlay bets, which may include wagers on multiple games, player performances, or multiple sports.
The March sports wagering haul was the highest total so far this year and nearly 11% more than the $500.8 million in Indiana sports bets tallied in March 2024. The state's all-time monthly sports wagering record is $614.4 million from November 2024.
Records show the majority of sports bets were placed through online sports wagering operators, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, that are required to be affiliated with one of Indiana's 13 commercial casinos.
Though several million dollars worth of sports wagers last month were placed in-person at casino sports books, particularly at the four casinos located in Northwest Indiana.
Hoosiers' interest in sports wagering didn't slake their thirst for the chance of winning big by inserting their money into a slot machine or plunking it down at a table game inside a casino.
IGC data show more than $2.1 billion was wagered at Indiana slot machines ($1.9 billion) and table games ($200 million) in March.
As usual, the bulk of that money was returned to players as winnings. Casinos kept a total of $227.5 million, or about 11%, as their "win," and paid $70.5 million in gaming taxes to the state, along with $3.4 million in sports wagering taxes, in March.
Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana remained the state's earnings leader for a 41st consecutive month, tallying $38.5 million in March win on $51.6 million in table game play and $302.7 million in slot machine play, according to the IGC.
Or, put another way, an average of $11.4 million was bet each day in March at the Gary casino located adjacent to Interstate 80/94 at Burr Street.
Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, said March was one of its 10 highest months for overall casino revenue since the gaming, dining and entertainment emporium opened in May 2021.
"Slot revenue continues to remain solid as we had our second-largest monthly slot coin-in in the property history. We celebrated a lot of wins with our guests on the table games side of the business as well in March," Schuffert said.
"Our 2025 entertainment calendar is in full swing. We are very excited to have announced upcoming concerts/shows with Def Leppard, Tom Segura, 311, Kevin Hart and Sting, to just name a few. Our restaurants will have all spring menus rolled out in the next week as we look to continue to capitalize on being Chicagoland's top entertainment destination."
Elsewhere in the Region, March win totaled $24.1 million on $223.1 million in play at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond; Ameristar Casino in East Chicago notched $14.4 million in win on $143.3 million in play; and Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City collected win of $11.8 million from $128.8 million in casino action.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino, located six miles west of the Indiana-Illinois state line, grew its adjusted gross receipts by 25% to $16.9 million in March — notching the second-highest attendance and second-highest adjusted gross receipts of Illinois' 16 casinos in its fourth full month of operations.
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