In Indiana, Senate Bill 552 recently was approved 10-0 by the Senate Public Policy Committee and sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it could move on to the full Senate for a vote. State Senator Ron Alting, chairman of the Senate Public Policy Committee, said the legislation is “one of the biggest gaming bills maybe in the history of Indiana, with the exception of the very first one that brought gaming to Indiana. I believe that Senate Bill 552 is a thoughtful, practical and well-balanced approach to advance Indiana’s gaming industry.”
State Senator Mark Messer, who authored the bill with state Senator Jon Ford, added the bill is a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity for Indiana.
Besides legalizing sports betting and moving the Majestic Star Casino’s licenses, the legislation would allow the state’s two racinos to have live dealer table games immediately rather than waiting until 2021, as required by a previous law.
Regarding sports betting, SB 552 would allow Indiana casinos to offer in-person and online/mobile wagering on professional and college sporting events after an individual has registered in person at a casino or off-track betting facility, beginning in 2020. Wagerers must be 21 years of age. The Indiana Gaming Commission would be responsible for determining what sports could be bet on. Ford said tax revenue estimates range from $3-$18 million annually, but sports betting’s major benefit would be to give Indiana’s casinos an important marketing tool.
The bill also would require that professional league data be used to determine the outcome of wagers; no other state that has legalized sports betting has included this provision. Casino Association of Indiana President Matt Bell said that essentially would create a monopoly on the data and allow the leagues to control who can offer sports betting and who cannot. Bell added last year leagues wanted sports betting measures to include an integrity fee. “So now they’ve come back with a new way to line their pockets. We don’t believe there’s a reason to create an official data monopoly,” Bell said.
However, Indianapolis Colts Chief Legal Officer, said allowing multiple sources of data would be “a prescription for disaster” due to discrepancies in data like how many yards the ball moved or what a penalty call was.
SB 552 also would allow Spectacle Entertainment, which is purchasing the Majestic Star Casino’s two riverboats in Gary, to build a new land-based casino move the second license possibly to Terre Haute. Spectacle General Counsel John Keeler said the company would build a $300 million casino resort with a 200-room hotel along Interstate 80-94 in Gary. The property would have 300-400 employees and generate about $75 million in new revenue every year.
Gary officials said moving the Majestic Star from its present location in Buffington Harbor would allow the city to develop a multimodal transportation and cargo hub.
However, SB 552 would allow companies to submit proposals for the new casino to the Indiana Gaming Commission. Besides Spectacle, Full House Resorts, owner of Rising Sun Casino in Rising Star, has long sought approval to expand its operations elsewhere in the state.
Messmer has said a Terre Haute casino would be far enough from other Indiana casinos that they wouldn’t be negatively affected, and it also could attract gamblers from eastern and central Illinois. But representatives for Ameristar Casino in East Chicago and Horseshoe Casino Hammond along with officials from both of those communities testified against the bill. They argued allowing Spectacle to relocate its facilities would hurt their own casinos and reduce the tax revenues they receive from gaming.
To address that, Messmer amended the bill to guarantee Hammond’s gaming tax revenues. He also promised similar “hold harmless” protection for East Chicago. The measure also would require any casino owner who is authorized to relocate a license to Vigo County to pay the city of Evansville $6 million. Any Terre Haute casino operator also would have to pay the Indiana Horse Racing Commission $2 million to be distributed to breed development funds and $3 million annually to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to help fund preservation and maintenance of West Baden Springs Hotel.
State Senator Eddie Melton, a co-author of SB 552, introduced SB 636 which would require a casino license moved from Gary to be located at least 100 miles away, and that the relocated operation remit 20 percent of annual revenue to Gary.
House Speaker Brian Bosma said SB 552 is “a very large expansion of gaming,” which has consistently been shrinking: Last year, casino revenue was $442 million, about 2.8 percent of state revenue, down from $680 million, or 5.5 percent of revenue, in 2010. But Messmer said, “With no additional licenses and no additional table games, I don’t know how you can call it an expansion of gaming.”
