Official date announced

The Indiana Gaming Commission has confirmed that mobile sports betting will launch in the state on October 3.

The commission’s announcement follows Indiana’s recent retail sports betting launch on September 1. This allowed the sportsbooks to launch in time for the start of the lucrative NFL season. There are currently 13 retail sportsbooks operating in the state.

geofencing technology will be used by mobile sportsbooks

Those signing up for mobile betting accounts will need to verify their identity. This potentially means providing your social security number, email address, and date of birth to operators.

To ensure that people are within Indiana state lines when placing mobile sports bets, geofencing technology will be used by mobile sportsbooks.

First operator to launch

Rush Street Gaming will be the first mobile sports betting operator to launch in Indiana. The gaming commission has been testing Rush Street Gaming’s new mobile sports betting offering for some time. The commission is happy that this offering meets all of the state’s regulatory requirements.

Rush Street is a Chicago-based company. It is also a partner of the Rivers Casino that operates in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York. It already has mobile sports betting apps in Pennsylvania – PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers.

It also is the partner of the French Lick Casino in Indiana, which will be the first online sportsbook to open in the state. The brand of this new betting app is BetRivers. Rush Street Gaming has been operating the retail sportsbook at this casino facility since September 6.

Other operators to follow

By the end of August, no operators had applied for a mobile sports betting license in Indiana. However, just one month later, Rush Street will be launching its mobile sports betting app. Other operators are looking to follow in the coming months.

Two more operators are currently having their requests looked at by the Indiana Gaming Commission. The names of these operators have not been disclosed.

Sara Gonso Tait, the Indiana Gaming Commission’s executive director, believes more operators will be announced soon. She said:

I think you’re going to see more mobile sports wagering (platforms) from different providers in Indiana in the month of October.”

Rolling sports betting launch

The Senate and House in Indiana came to an agreement on a final sports betting bill in April 2019. It was in May that Governor Holcomb signed the bill into law. 

After legalizing sports betting, Indiana decided to roll it out in two different phases. The first phase saw the retail sportsbooks launch. Governor Eric Holcomb was the first person to place a sports bet in the state.

After ensuring that there were no major issues, the second phase would see the mobile sportsbooks launch. To date, there have been no significant issues in the legal sports betting space in Indiana.