- IN SB 552 is heading to a House committee on Tuesday.
- No plans to re-introduce mobile wagering to the bill during the meeting.
- Senator Jon Ford wants mobile wagering will be back in before bill passes the House.
INDIANAPOLIS – Mobile wagering is still out of a sports betting bill heading to the House Ways and Means committee on Tuesday.
As IN SB 552 heads to the House committee on Tuesday, there are no plans to bringing back mobile wagering during the committee meeting.
Mobile Fight In Indiana
The original iteration of IN SB 552 had provisions that would allow people in Indiana to use their mobile device to place their bets. Senator Jon Ford who authored the bill said that having mobile wagering is necessary because it will help bring people out of black market sports betting.
But that part of the bill was removed by Public Policy Chairman Ben Smaltz. He said that he doesn’t see how having mobile sports betting would help reduce black market sports betting. Smaltz said that is especially true because he doesn’t believe that the black market is that big.
A report from the Indiana Gaming Commission said that between $50 billion and $60 billion is wagered through “illegal” channels. Ford said this report is proof enough that there is a large black market in Indiana for sports betting.
Ford believes that there is still a chance for mobile wagering to make a comeback. He thinks that there are plenty of representatives in the House that see the necessity of having mobile sports betting in Indiana.
Other Changes
Mobile sports betting was not the only change that IN SB 552 has been through. The original bill said that live betting odds were going to be dictated by official league data. That part of the bill has also been removed. Ford doesn’t expect that part to make it back in the bill.
One of the things that are going to be added to the bill is what the tax rate will be for Indiana sports betting. This will be an important step because if it’s too high, people might go to other channels for sports wagering. This will be decided on Tuesday in the Ways and Means Committee.
Ford is still feeling positive about sports betting in Indiana. He fully believes that sports betting will be legalized in Indiana despite the disagreements with mobile betting. There isn’t a lot of time left to pass the bill. The legislative session is expected to end April 25 in Indiana, leaving less than a month to pass the sports betting bill.