A new market
Unibet is set to launch its new Indiana online sportsbook on July 30 through its partnership with Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Hammond. The Indiana Gaming Commission announced its approval of the launch on Tuesday.
The Commission thoroughly tested the online sportsbook to ensure that all directives and rules are being followed before launch. The operator received a temporary vendor license in May.
the eighth betting platform to go live in Indiana
Unibet is an online sports betting and casino brand that belongs to the Sweden-based Kindred Group. Unibet will be the second mobile sportsbook – after Caesars Online – to launch with the Horseshoe Hammond license. No other casino in the state has two live mobile sportsbooks in operation.
This makes Unibet the eighth betting platform to go live in Indiana since online sportsbooks first opened in September 2019.
Latest partnership
Horseshoe Hammond operates the largest retail sportsbook in the state in terms of betting handle. It is one of three Indiana properties that will be sold as part of Caesars’ merger with Eldorado Resorts.
Unibet now has a solid foothold in a number of the major mature online gambling markets in the United States. Its offerings have seen decent results since launching in Pennsylvania, with Unibet also becoming the first official casino sponsor of the Philadelphia Eagles.
In New Jersey, the operator has an online casino and sportsbook through a partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Unibet also has a deal in place to launch an online sportsbook with Harrah’s Council Bluffs Hotel and Casino in Iowa.
Sports betting in the state
Sports betting in Indiana has been reasonably successful since getting off the ground last year. Revenue was rising steadily month-on-month until the arrival of the global pandemic.
Indiana sportsbooks were not able to offer esports betting
COVID-19 led to the cancellation of most sporting events for most of the spring, forcing sportsbooks to get creative with the betting markets they offered. Indiana sportsbooks were not able to offer esports betting, an activity which became popular among bettors, because of state laws.
With Indiana casinos reopening starting June 15, retail sportsbooks were able to get back to business. DraftKings and FanDuel control most of the market, accounting for over 88% of the total sports betting handle in the state in June. Total handle was $27.8m for the month, a 20.2% drop from May’s figures.