Indiana And Tennessee Both Top $500 Million Handle For September

Both Indiana and Tennessee surpassed $500 million in sports betting handle for September, with the former continuing the national trend of revenue figures that don’t quite measure up to those posted in September 2024.

The Indiana Gaming Commission reported $531.8 million worth of accepted wagers, an increase of 9.9% year-over-year, as the Hoosier State surpassed one-half billion dollars in handle for the 10th time since operators took their first bets in September 2019.

The $565.3 million handle reported by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council was third most dating back to the Volunteer State’s launch in November 2020 and eighth over $500 million overall.

Indiana sportsbooks had a decent month with a collective 8% hold that led to $42.7 million in adjusted gross revenue — but that was down 19.4% from September 2024 when the win rate was just shy of 11%.

Tennessee is the only state with commercial sports wagering that levies tax on the handle, so its revenue is not subject to operator performance with relation to sporting event outcomes.

The nearly $4 million that did reach Indiana coffers for the month put the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2026 total at $11.6 million, roughly $720,000 ahead of last year’s pace. Tennessee, whose monthly receipts reached eight figures for the sixth time at $10.4 million, was $1.8 million ahead of the first three months of FY 2025 at $22.8 million.

Hoosier football hysteria

Although Indiana is usually primarily known for basketball, football has grabbed the spotlight this fall. Coming off a school-record 11-win season and College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, Indiana University showed that was no fluke by rolling through its four games in September. That included a 63-10 dismantling of then-No. 9 Illinois on Sept. 20 as part of its current 6-0 start.

The bigger surprise, though, may be the Indianapolis Colts, who won their first three games and are off to their best start since 2009 at 5-1. Quarterback Daniel Jones has quickly adjusted in his first season with 1,502 yards and eight TD passes, while Jonathan Taylor has 603 rushing yards and seven scores.

The IGC only reports handle figures for select sports, and though the $172 million wagered on football was down 1.9% from last year, it is the fourth-highest monthly total in state history.

Those quick starts were likely contributors to overall year-over-year revenue being down, and DraftKings was hit hardest. It had a 12-month run of eight-figure revenue totals come to end with $9.9 million. The 5.1% hold on $196.3 million handle was its lowest since posting a 4.7% win rate in June 2022.

By comparison, FanDuel was relatively unscathed with a state-best $14.7 million in winnings. Its 9.2% hold, however, snapped a five-month streak of double-digit win rates. FanDuel also surpassed $750 million in all-time revenue in the Hoosier State.

England-based bet365 took honors for top hold among Indiana’s 11 mobile operators at 9.7% in reaping $2.8 million from $28.6 million wagered. BetMGM narrowly held onto the No. 3 spot for revenue with $2.9 million, crafting an 8.3% win rate from $34.6 million handle. Fanatics was the only other book to clear $2 million, notching a 6.4% hold from $33 million in accepted bets.

Checking the Volunteer State

July marked the start of the third fiscal year since Tennessee switched to taxing operator handle, levying a 1.85% tax on gross wagers accepted after adjustments. It has generated $213.8 million in receipts since the changeover, which includes growth of $15.9 million to $103.4 million from FY 2024 to FY 2025. But the markedly improved operator performance in the 2025 calendar year raises the question of whether taxing handle is the best method of generating revenue.

The SWC does not collect operator revenue data, but the American Gaming Association has estimated Tennessee sportsbooks claimed $356 million in revenue spanning the first seven months of 2025. Using the previous tax method of 20% on adjusted gross revenue and deducting only the 0.25% federal excise tax, that would have generated $69.7 million in receipts — $13.3 million more than the $56.4 million collected from January through July via taxing handle.

Spending in the Sunflower State

The Kansas Lottery reported $283.7 million handle for September, the third-highest in state history as the countdown continues until neighboring Missouri launches Dec. 1. Wagering was up 14% from last year and surpassed $2 billion for the calendar year.

Like their Indiana counterparts, Sunflower State sportsbooks had an OK month with an 8.5% hold to claim $24.2 million in gross revenue. That was down 29% from September 2024 as the win rate was 5.2 percentage points lower.

But adjusted gross revenue plunged 55.1% to $8.2 million due to heavy promotional deductions reported by the seven mobile sportsbooks, with only five paying taxes as Kansas coffers received $821,562 in receipts.

Bet365, which entered the marketplace in late July, served notice it was ready to play with a $4.7 million promotional spend that was topped only by marketplace leader DraftKings at $6.1 million. Bet365’s outlay accounted for nearly 40% of its $11.8 million handle, which ranked fifth ahead of Caesars and ESPN Bet and within shouting distance of Fanatics.

Speaking of Fanatics, it slashed promotional credits and bonus spending by 35% from last year to $701,634, while its handle climbed 34.9% to $15.4 million. FanDuel lavished more than $4 million in credits and bonuses, while BetMGM’s $816,000 was less than half its $1.9 million outlay from a year ago.

ESPN Bet, which has a dominant retail tether in Hollywood Kansas, went in the opposite direction. Handle dipped 19.3% to $8.1 million despite a 43.8% uptick in spend to $376,134. Revenue had a sharper fall-off at 32.6% to $707,534 as the 8.8% win rate was 1.7 percentage points lower.