More moves on sports betting legalisation in Indiana

Indiana’s moves to position itself to take advantage of a possible overturn of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) by the US Supreme Court (see previous  reports) developed further Friday when S405 was filed in the state Senate.

The bill is being seen as a companion for a House bill which Rep. Alan Morrison is expected to file early next week and that is reportedly broadly supported by the state’s land casino operators.

The Senate bill has broad provisions tasking the state gaming commission with delivering appropriate regulations and infrastructure in the event that PASPA is overthrown and the US sports betting market opened up to more states.

It confines sports betting operations to land casino operators already licensed in the state, and sets a 90 day deadline on implementation following a favourable US Supreme Court decision in the New Jersey case. Punters will have to be at least 21 years of age.

Importantly, the Senate proposal permits interactive and mobile activity…and it does not specifically prohibit betting on collegiate events.

On the licensing fees, S405 proposes $500,000 or one percent of revenue, whichever is greater, an annual $75,000 fee, and annual state tax rate of 9.25 percent of GGR.

Until the Morrison bill is filed in the House, its provisions are not entirely clear, but the Representative has verbally revealed his thinking on the content, indicating that it is broadly similar to S405.

Morrison emphasised that appropriately geo-fenced intrastate interactive and online provisions are important, as are fees and taxes that are not too high and discouraging for operators – he hinted that these financial burdens would be no heavier than those presently applied to land casino operators.

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