Indiana

Last verified September 27, 2026

By the Legal Sportsbooks US editorial team

Indiana

Online and retail

Legal since

September 1, 2019 (retail); October 3, 2019 (online)

Minimum age

21 (18 for daily fantasy)

Regulator

Indiana Gaming Commission

Licensed apps

11 online sportsbooks

State law

Ind. Code 4-38 (sports wagering)

Is sports betting legal in Indiana?

Yes. House Enrolled Act 1015, signed May 8, 2019 as Public Law 293-2019 and codified at Indiana Code 4-38, legalized sports wagering. Retail betting began September 1, 2019, and mobile betting followed on October 3, 2019, when DraftKings was cleared to launch. You must be 21 to bet, and the state taxes sportsbook revenue at 9.5%.

Where you can bet

The Indiana Gaming Commission's sportsbook contact list, current as of July 29, 2026, has 11 mobile sportsbooks: Bally Bet, bet365, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, Hard Rock Bet, SBK (Smarkets) and theScore Bet.

Sixteen casinos, racinos and off-track betting sites hold sports wagering certificates of authority. Fourteen of them run retail sportsbooks, including Horseshoe Indianapolis, Horseshoe Hammond, Hard Rock Northern Indiana and the Caesars Winner's Circle off-track sites in Clarksville, Indianapolis and New Haven. Terre Haute Casino Resort has betting kiosks, and Rising Star doesn't list a retail book.

College wagering is limited to NCAA Division I, and Indiana schools aren't exempt. The Commission's betting-catalogue directive, dated July 1, 2024, bans in-play college player props and, in every sport, props on injuries, arrests, suspensions or officiating. Pregame college player props aren't banned.

How Indiana legalized sports betting

Before 2019

The 1851 constitution banned lotteries, and in State v. Nixon (1979) the Indiana Supreme Court read that ban to forbid pari-mutuel betting on horse races. Voters repealed the lottery ban on November 8, 1988, and at its next session, in 1989, the General Assembly authorized both the Hoosier Lottery and pari-mutuel wagering.

Casinos arrived through a 1993 special session. The Riverboat Gambling Act, effective July 1, 1993, authorized up to five riverboats on Lake Michigan, five on the Ohio River and one on Patoka Lake. Four Porter County residents sued, arguing the law was unconstitutional special legislation, and a Porter Superior Court judge enjoined the Commission from issuing licenses. The Indiana Supreme Court didn't agree and reversed on November 21, 1994 in Indiana Gaming Commission v. Moseley, 643 N.E.2d 296. Casino Aztar in Evansville opened first, on December 7, 1995. A 2007 law allowed 2,000 slot machines at each of the two horse tracks, and House Enrolled Act 1540 (Public Law 255-2015) let the riverboats move inland to adjacent land.

Fantasy sports got a statute before sportsbooks did. Senate Enrolled Act 339-2016 put paid fantasy under the Commission at IC 4-33-24, and DraftKings and FanDuel have held operator licenses since June 29, 2017.

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, whose South Bend land the Interior Department took into trust in 2016, opened the Class II Four Winds South Bend in January 2018. Its Class III compact with the state, dated January 21, 2021, covers sports wagering under IC 4-38, with mobile bets allowed only from inside the South Bend site. The Interior Department didn't act within its 45-day review, so the compact was deemed approved, as its letter of June 29, 2021 explains.

House Enrolled Act 1015 (2019)

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018, and the Commission published a sports betting study that October. In 2019, Sen. Mark Messmer's Senate Bill 552 was folded into Rep. Todd Huston's House Bill 1015, though Huston voted against the final version he'd sponsored. The final bill passed the House 59 to 36 and the Senate 37 to 12 on April 24, 2019, and Gov. Eric Holcomb signed it May 8.

The act allowed retail and online wagering by certificate holders at riverboats, racinos, a new Vigo County casino and off-track sites, set a 9.5% tax on adjusted gross receipts (IC 4-38-10-1), and didn't require official league data. It also let Spectacle Entertainment replace its two Gary riverboats with one inland casino and surrender the second license, which could then go to a new casino in Terre Haute.

The Commission began issuing temporary certificates of authority on July 12, 2019, but a book couldn't open until the Commission gave express approval. On August 28 it cleared Ameristar East Chicago to open a retail book on September 1. On October 2 it cleared DraftKings, operating under Ameristar's certificate, to start mobile wagering the next day. Emergency rules governed until the final rules, 68 IAC 27, were adopted in 2021.

After the launch

The NCAA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, petitioned the Commission in June 2026 to ban pregame college player props too, with supporting letters from Butler University, Indiana University and Purdue University. The Commission tabled the request on June 25, 2026 and denied it unanimously on September 24, 2026. "This is a legislative question," Commissioner L. Scott Pejic said. A narrower 2026 bill, Senate Bill 120, would have barred college athletes from placing prop bets on their own sport; it was referred to the Senate Public Policy Committee on December 9, 2025 and didn't advance before the session ended.

Facing a projected $2 billion shortfall in April 2025, budget writers discussed raising the sports betting tax, but the 2025 session left the 9.5% rate in place. The 2026 session passed HEA 1052 (Public Law 153, signed March 12, 2026), which added sports wagering certificate holders to the voluntary exclusion program and set civil penalties for online sweepstakes games. It also passed HEA 1038 (Public Law 77, signed March 4, 2026), which puts a casino question on the November 2026 ballot in Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties.

Sports betting court cases in Indiana

We searched CourtListener's federal dockets on September 27, 2026 and found no case in which Indiana sued, or was sued by, a prediction market or the CFTC. The cases below involve Indiana's gaming law, its sportsbooks or its fantasy operators.

Daniels v. FanDuel (2017 to 2018)

Three former college football players, Akeem Daniels, Cameron Stingily and Nicholas Stoner, sued FanDuel and DraftKings for using their names, pictures and statistics in paid contests without consent. The Southern District of Indiana dismissed the case on September 29, 2017. On appeal (No. 17-3051) the Seventh Circuit certified the question to the Indiana Supreme Court, which held on October 24, 2018 that the use fell within the right-of-publicity statute's exception for material with newsworthy value (109 N.E.3d 390). The Seventh Circuit affirmed on November 29, 2018 (909 F.3d 876), noting that the state court hadn't said the games broke Indiana's gambling laws.

McAfee v. DraftKings (2024 to 2026)

Matthew McAfee filed a class action in Hamilton County Superior Court (No. 29D03-2406-CT-006326) after DraftKings canceled a sports bet he had won. DraftKings removed it to the Southern District of Indiana (No. 1:24-cv-01168) on July 11, 2024. Judge James Patrick Hanlon dismissed the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act claim on February 7, 2025 and let the breach-of-contract claim proceed. On September 22, 2026 he granted DraftKings summary judgment and denied McAfee's cross-motion.

NCAA v. DraftKings (2026)

The NCAA sued DraftKings in the Southern District of Indiana on March 20, 2026 (No. 1:26-cv-00557), alleging trademark infringement, false association and dilution over the sportsbook's use of MARCH MADNESS, FINAL FOUR, ELITE EIGHT and NCAA SWEET SIXTEEN and variations such as "March Mania." Judge Tanya Walton Pratt denied a temporary restraining order on March 26, 2026: the NCAA had shown three of the four elements but not irreparable harm. The claims were still open in mid-September. We haven't been able to confirm a ruling on the merits since the TRO was denied.

Commission discipline

The Commission disciplines licensed sportsbooks through settlement agreements approved at its business meetings. In Order 2026-022, approved March 26, 2026, FanDuel paid $6,000 after a platform upgrade let 22 Indiana customers exceed self-imposed limits between April 8 and April 25, 2025.

Seventh Circuit appeals on prediction markets

Indiana is in the Seventh Circuit, which hasn't decided whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling law for sports event contracts. The lead appeal is United States v. Wisconsin (No. 26-2636). Judge William Griesbach of the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied the CFTC and the Justice Department a preliminary injunction against Wisconsin on July 29, 2026. On August 24 the Seventh Circuit declined to expedite it, and it's now consolidated with appeals by Kalshi (No. 26-2675) and the American Gaming Association (No. 26-2696). The defendants' brief is due October 21, 2026, and replies are due November 12.

On September 21, 2026 Kalshi petitioned for permission to appeal (No. 26-8020) in Ho-Chunk Nation v. Kalshi, after Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin certified his May 11, 2026 order denying part of Kalshi's motion to dismiss. In Illinois, the preliminary-injunction motions in the federal government's suit against the state (N.D. Ill. No. 1:26-cv-03659) were undecided in early September, and we couldn't confirm whether Judge Martha Pacold has ruled since. Ludlow Exchange, LLC, which does business as Novig, sued Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on August 14, 2026 (W.D. Wis. No. 3:26-cv-00761).

Rulings from other circuits don't bind Indiana. The Third Circuit held in KalshiEX v. Flaherty (No. 25-1922, April 6, 2026) that Kalshi was likely to win its preemption claim against New Jersey; the Ninth Circuit held in KalshiEX v. Assad (No. 25-7516, August 28, 2026) that Kalshi hadn't shown preemption of Nevada law. New Jersey's petition in Flaherty was docketed at the Supreme Court as No. 26-299 on September 8, 2026, and Kalshi's response is due November 9, 2026. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita signed the 39-state amicus brief filed March 10, 2026 on Nevada's side in the Ninth Circuit.

Prediction markets and daily fantasy

We found no Indiana cease-and-desist letter or lawsuit against a prediction market. The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported on May 27, 2026 that Commission officials said Kalshi falls under federal jurisdiction and that they have no oversight authority, and that Indiana was not among the at least 15 states whose legislatures took up prediction markets in 2026. Kalshi's market on the 2026 Republican secretary of state nomination had drawn nearly $80,000 in volume by then. Novig (Ludlow Exchange, LLC, designated a contract market by the CFTC on June 16, 2026) is open in Indiana, since its eligibility page excludes only Nevada, Arizona and Michigan; it requires users to be 21 with ID and builds no vig into its prices. The federal cases are covered in the court-cases section above.

Paid fantasy players must be 18 (IC 4-33-24-19). The Commission lists 13 fantasy operators, among them Betr, DraftKings, FanDuel, ParlayPlay, PrizePicks, Sleeper, Underdog and Yahoo.

Help with a gambling problem

Call the Indiana Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-800-9-WITH-IT (1-800-994-8448) or text INGAMB to 53342. The Indiana Council on Problem Gambling is at 866-699-4274.

Sources

Common questions

How we track and verify state laws

What does Legal Sportsbooks US track?

Every state's legal status, the date betting became legal, the minimum age, the regulator and the licensed apps, plus the legal history and court cases behind them, for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Our page on how we track and verify state laws explains the details.

What do the statuses mean?

Online and retail means licensed mobile apps and in-person sportsbooks both operate. Online only means betting happens through licensed apps, with no retail sportsbooks. Retail only means you can bet in person at licensed venues, but there's no statewide app. Not legal means no licensed sportsbooks operate. Legislation pending means a bill or ballot measure is moving, but betting hasn't launched. Not yet verified means we haven't confirmed the state's current status.

Can I bet on sports where I live?

The rules follow where you are when you place the bet. Licensed apps use geolocation to confirm you're inside a state where they can operate, and some states limit betting to certain premises. Find your state in the state index, or read our guide to location rules.

How old do you have to be to bet on sports?

It's 21 in 33 of the 40 jurisdictions with legal sports betting and 18 in five: Washington, D.C., Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wyoming. In North Dakota and Washington, the tribal casino sets the age.

How current is the tracker?

State laws and licenses change, so every state entry records the date it was last verified. If a status looks out of date, the state regulator's website has the official answer.

Is this legal advice?

No. We summarize public information about state sports betting laws. Confirm the rules with your state regulator before you bet, and don't wager more than you can afford to lose.