The Indiana Senate recently voted 38-11 for SB 552, which would allow sports betting at the state’s riverboats, racinos and off-track betting facilities plus on mobile devices. The measure now will go to the House. The bill’s sponsor, state Senator Mark Messmer, said it’s a “once in a generation opportunity to reset the casino industry in the state.” State Senator Jon Ford co-sponsored the legislation.
The measure also would allow the Majestic Star Casino’s two licenses, currently located in Gary, to relocate—one to a new location within Gary and the other to Vigo County, most likely in Terre Haute. Gary officials want to use the casinos’ Buffington Harbor location on Lake Michigan for an intermodal cargo hub.
Spectacle Entertainment, the soon-to-be new owners of Majestic Star, want to move one of the casinos ashore and the other to Terre Haute. But there’s no guarantee Spectacle would get the license, since the bill would require a competitive process to determine who would operate a Vigo County casino. Other operators could use unused gambling positions from their existing casinos. Full House Resorts, owner of Rising Star Casino in Rising Sun, also is interested in opening a casino in Terre Haute. Messmer said the competitive process would assure Terre Haute and the state get the best project possible. The Indiana Gaming Commission would make the final selection.
The Senate bill also includes subsidies that would be paid to communities that could be affected by the Gary casinos’ move–East Chicago, Hammond, Michigan City and Evansville. The measure also includes funds for the preservation and maintenance of West Baden Springs Hotel, part of the French Lick Casino Resort complex, and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission’s breed development program.
The measure also would allow gambling on college and professional sports at casinos or online, but players must first register in person at a licensed facility. Licenses would cost $100,000. The bill would allow in-play betting but would require using official data from the leagues running the events. In addition, the legislation would remove a cap on the number of in-state casinos a company can own and move up the date from 2021 to 2019 when racinos can use live dealers for table games.
A 2017 sports betting study from Oxford Economics projected that Indiana sports betting with mobile wagering could generate more than $5 billion in annual wagers and more than $370 million in taxable gaming revenue. The report said, “The sports wagering provisions in the bill could potentially divert the existing wagers from table games and slot machines to the sports wagering. It could also result in bringing new patrons to the casinos. In addition to sports wagering, these patrons could potentially wager on other casino games. This analysis assumes that legalization of sports wagering would not have any net impact on other casino games.”
The tax structure for the measure would not be specified until it reaches the House. However, a 6.75 percent sports betting tax rate has been proposed. Ford said, “We want to try to keep the rate low, so we can be competitive and draw in as much of the gray market as we can. Nevada has been at 6.75 percent for quite a while and that seems to work.”
House Speaker Brian Bosma has called the legislation a “major expansion.” He said, “It’s difficult to find a place where a large expansion like that can pass. I’m surprised it had passed the Senate. If there’s a new casino facility, I don’t know how anyone can argue that it’s not an expansion.” But state Senator Eddie Melton and other supporters said the bill is not an expansion because it doesn’t create a new license. “I don’t see this as an expansion of gaming. I see this as an opportunity to leverage our existing assets,” he said.
However, according to an Old National Bank/Ball State University 2018 Hoosier Survey, 50 percent of Indiana residents opposed using sports gaming as a revenue source and only 37 percent were in favor.
