It is perfectly legal to bet on sports in Indiana. The sports betting bill signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb in May 2019 permits both online and in-person wagering.

Indiana sports betting officially began on September 1, 2019, when the first retail sportsbooks went live. Indiana online sportsbooks launched a month later, DraftKings and BetMGM the first operators out of the blocks in The Hoosier State.

Online wagering options have since been added to with the likes of FanDuel, PoinstBet, and William Hill issued with licenses by the IGC. Here’s a list of the best Indiana betting sites legal and available right now.

Best Sport Betting Sites Indiana

1. DraftKings
   
2. FanDuel
   
3. BetMGM
4. PointsBet
   
5. Unibet
   
6. William Hill

There’s a lot to like about Indiana sports betting legislation. Mainly because it’s one of the most gambling-friendly frameworks in the country.

There are hardly any restrictions for bettors in Indiana

For starters, aside from needing to be the legal gambling age of 21, there are barely any restrictions for bettors.

You can register and sign-up to an Indiana betting site on a mobile device from a remote location - there’s no need to make a trip to a physical sportsbook to verify your identity.

So long as you’re in Indiana state lines at the time you make a bet, you can wager on your favorite sport wherever and whenever is convenient for you. And there's always the option of in-person wagering if that's what you prefer.

In terms of what you can bet on, all of the major sports you can think of have been approved by the IGC. On the banned list, however, is e-Sports and on high school and amateur youth sporting events.

Operators who want to offer sports wagering in Indiana must partner with either an Indiana casino, racino, or an off-track betting facility, i.e an entity that holds a certificate of authority issued by the Indiana Gaming Commission, to become licensed.

Each certificate holder can offer up to 3 mobile “skins” (online sportsbooks). Here’s who has partnered with who:

• DraftKings - Ameristar Casino
• BetRivers - French Lick Resort
• FanDuel - Belterra Casino Resort
• BetAmerica - Rising Star Casino
• BetMGM - Belterra Casino Resort
• PointsBet - Hollywood Casino
• Caesars - Horseshoe Hammond
• Unibet - Horseshoe Hammond
• theScore - Ameristar Casino
• William Hill - Tropicana Evansville Casino

With ten Indiana betting sites to choose from, you can be confident of finding a sportsbook that suits you. Question is, what do you want when it comes to an online sportsbook?

Preferences change from bettor to bettor. You may want an online sportsbook in Indiana that accepts PayPal. A website with the best odds? Live streaming? Plenty of promotions? Or perhaps you’ll lean towards the Indiana betting site with the best sign up bonus.

While we will help by ranking and comparing the best Indiana sportsbooks, in addition to highlighting pros and cons, the decision, ultimately, is yours.

To help you with your choice, here are our four favorite Indiana betting websites.

Setting yourself up with an online sports betting account in Indiana follows the same process across all the major US sports betting operators.

You can sign-up from a mobile sports betting app or desktop website, whichever option is more convenient for you.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Create Betting Account - Enter your e-mail address and create a username and password.
2. Verify information - Provide personal details such as full name, address, DOB. Have the last 4 digits of your social security number at hand too.
3. Secure Account - enter your preferred means of payment, i.e Debit/Credit card, PayPal
4. Confirm Location - you don’t really need to do much here other than turn on the location settings on your mobile device and wait for Geolocation to confirm you in Indiana. Job done!

With legal sports betting swinging into motion across many parts of the US, it begs the question as to why it has taken so long for the ban on legalized sports betting to be overturned. It’s not like sports betting didn’t take place before!

It’s no secret that US citizens regularly risked online security and safety by using offshore betting sites to place wagers on their favorite sports.

Unfortunately, this is still common. But only once bettors become more aware of the advantages of legal sportsbooks, will we see unregulated sportsbooks begin to fade away.

Let's look at the benefits of legal sportsbooks in Indiana.

Safe market for all

First and foremost, Indiana bettors are better protected. A regulated framework means there are rules sportsbooks must abide by. Players were previously at the mercy of offshore sites, who, with nobody governing the industry, were unethical in many ways. Legal sportsbooks in Indiana have all paid the $100,000 fee for a sports betting license issued by the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC), the body responsible for regulating the market.

Tax revenue for the state

Betting on sports via illegal sites used to leaving billions of dollars in the hands of criminal rings. A regulated industry means state governments can keep the revenue in the state and for the state. The majority of sports betting tax revenue in Indiana goes towards the state general fund. Among other things, this will help improve education, health clinics, infrastructure in the Hoosier State.

Employment opportunities

Whether it's oddsmakers, cashiers, or analysts, the creation of what is essentially a new industry brings a host of new positions. There are fourteen retail sportsbooks in total. Among the casino locations now with retail sportsbooks include Ameristar Casino Resort, Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, and Horseshoe Hammond Casino.

Helps protect integrity of games

The major leagues previously had no system or protocol in place to detect unusual activity. However, all betting sites are now heavily monitored. Suspicious betting patterns are detected quickly and more often, limiting the prospect of match-fixing taking occuring.

More help and support for problem gamblers

Interested in who they can exploit next, offshore betting sites pay little attention to gambling addicts or bettors in need of support. Why would they place a limit on somebody they could make serious money from? Regulated sites, on the other hand, are obligated to offer help and support to vulnerable customers. In Indiana, a percentage of the money generated from sports betting revenue helps fund solutions to problem gambling.

It's often the case that bettors start playing with an offshore site without realizing. It’s crucial, therefore, that you're aware of the differences between Indiana sportsbooks that are licensed and offshore betting sites.

Ways to tell a betting site is legal in Indiana

• Licensing logo: a legal site will link to the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) - this can be found at the footer of the website.
  
• Responsible gaming icon: the sportsbook must set out its responsible gaming policy and what it intends to do to protect players from the dangers associated with gambling. That icon should also be clickable so it can be read.
• Established payment methods: all legal sportsbooks will have a range of payment options to select from. Offshore sites will generally be restricted in what they offer, often dictating how you should deposit for their own benefit.
• Live betting: you can often determine the legality of a betting site through the types of bet available, in particular, in-play betting markets. Offshore sites do not have access to a platform such as Kambi, responsible for updating odds in real-time. Cashout isn’t possible either.