INDIANAPOLIS — In the first weekend with legal mobile betting in Indiana, DraftKings paid out more than $300,000 to Hoosiers betting on the Indianapolis Colts to beat the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night.
DraftKings Head of Sportsbook Digital Jamie Shea said the company boosted the odds for a Colts win in Indiana from about 4-1 to 10-1. In betting, 4-1 odds mean you would get you $5 for a $1 bet.
“We want to favor that local market and say, ‘Hey, we appreciate you. We want to give you a little something extra,’” Shea said.
The Indiana General Assembly quickly moved to pass a sports betting law this year, after a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for states to legalize it. In-person bets started on Sept. 1, and mobile betting opened on Thursday. Only DraftKings and Rush Street Interactive currently have websites or apps to place bets, but more are expected.
Shea said more than half of mobile bettors were new to DraftKings.
“People are really enjoying it so far,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of bets.”
With so many first-timers, she said DraftKings has tried to make a conscious effort to make sports betting simple.
“Do you want the money line? Do you want the points spread? We’ve taken that away,” Shea said. “We said, who do you want to win? And this is what you bet.”
Indiana is the third state to allow for mobile sports betting, after New Jersey and West Virginia.
She praised the Indiana Gaming Commission for its sports betting and mobile betting regulations.
“Indiana just did it right when they set up the regulations,” Shea said. “Everything is done in a very responsible way. We’re not looking for people to lose all their savings. What we’re looking for is that they come in and have a great time. This is for the guy who wants to bet $5 on the game and watch it with a little more interest, have a little more skin in the game.”
