Indiana Looking to Approve Online Lotteries

The state of Indiana has always been rather conservative in its values. At the same time, the state legislature really stepped up to embrace online gambling initiates that brought online/mobile sports betting to the state. In fact, Indiana consistently ranks among the top six or seven states in terms of the monthly sports betting handle its residents push through the retail and mobile betting windows.

Despite the state's support for other forms of online gambling (Horse racing and sports), there has always been a reluctance on the part of the state legislature to include online casino and lottery play in the mix. Last year, several bills were introduced trying to bring online casino gambling to the residents of Indiana. Unfortunately, none of those bills were ever able to garner enough support and each of them ultimately failed.

After seeing the state rake in over $6.5 billion in all-time sports betting handle since the state’s 2019 launch, it looks like Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is open to signing a bill that would permit Hoosiers to participate in online lottery games from the Indiana state lottery.

At issue is there is no provision in the state of Indiana's lottery guidelines that allows the state lottery to sell games online. Why is that? The legislation under which the state’s lottery is currently operating was passed in 1989. That was long before any form of online gambling had been able to gain recognition. So of course, bill HB 376 contained no language that would allow such activities. By the way, that legislation passed in 1989 by a vote of 92-1 (six members did not vote) in the state legislature.

Like everything that gets affected by innovation, more states are now looking at putting their state lotteries online. That does include Indiana.

According to the Associated Press, this is what Gov. Holcomb said about the online lottery issue:

“We’re going to continue to look at all the innovations that come out and connect with consumers. Obviously, demand oftentimes drives the day. We want to make sure we do it in a responsible way.”

It will interesting to see how any new lottery legislation will play out in Indiana. The biggest opponents will surely be the state’s retail casino owners who aren’t too interested in losing gambling handle and revenue to the state’s lottery because of online access. It’s a good bet that the state’s mobile sports betting operators will side with the casinos because of existing partnerships.

The likelihood is very high that someone in the House will soon present a bill trying to give the Indiana State Lottery permission to offer online games. It’s also likely that the legislation will be tied to another attempt to bring online/mobile casino gambling to the state.

While the Governor has stated he would likely support online lottery legislation, it’s not quite as clear where he would stand on the inclusion of online/mobile casino gambling. The answer will likely come sometime later this year when such legislation does hit the floor.