Legal Sports Betting Coming to Indiana

The State Senate in Indiana ed Senate Bill 552 to legalize sports betting in this state…

…and by doing so, has made one of the largest expansions of gaming in the history of the state.

The plan is to not only legalize sports betting, but also to allow a Gary casino license to move across the state, remove a cap on the number of casinos one company can own and move up the date concerning when horse racing casinos can use live dealers for table games.

The bill ed in the Senate by a 38-11 vote, while its author Senator, Mark Messmer, called it a “once in a generation opportunity.”

The Sports Betting Bill

“It’s difficult to find a place where a large expansion like that can . I’m surprised it had ed the Senate. If there’s a new casino facility, I don’t know how anyone can argue that it’s not an expansion,” Speaker, Brian Bosma, said and called the legislation the biggest expansion since allowing horse racing casinos to implement slots in 2007.

The part of the bill that didn’t get the approval from everyone is the one regarding the provision that would allow one of the two Gary casino licenses to move to Terre Haute and make room for economic development in Gary’s Buffington Harbor.

The Casino Licenses

At the moment, both of those licenses are owned by the same company and are used for operating the two riverboat casinos.

If other casino owners want to get the opportunity to compete for the Terre Haute license, they will be able to, but it is still not sure if the provision will stay in the final version of the bill.

“I don’t see this as an expansion of gaming. I see this as an opportunity to leverage our existing assets,” Senator Eddie Melton said.

Other ers of the bill, along with Senator Melton, said that the part of the bill won’t bring an expansion because it won’t bring new licenses.

The Provision

According to the bill, the provision coming from legal sports betting would bring $1.6 million to the state budget in 2020. But, this forecast hasn’t been received as expected, although it shows a large potential.

As proposed in the bill, casinos, racinos and satellite locations would be given the opportunity to offer sports betting…

…while betting on amateur or high school sports and video games won’t be allowed.

Although lawmakers in Indiana want to make use of the removal of the sports betting ban, since according to some reports, illegal wagering on sports events is present in the state…

…around 50% of citizens are opposed to using sports betting as the way of getting revenue for the state. Only 37% was in favor.

This bill could help shift the attitudes toward gambling in the Indiana General Assembly. The House will probably take up the bill in the next month and a half.

Source:

“Indiana Senate es ‘major expansion’ of gaming allowing Terre Haute casino, sports betting”, Kaitlin Lange, indystar.com, February 26, 2019.