Indiana lawmakers Sen. Jon Ford and Rep. Ethan Manning have finished drafting a new online casino bill that is set to be introduced in the state’s next legislative session in January of 2023.

Both Ford and Manning have already had one attempt to legalize online casinos fall short in 2022, but have since worked on drafting a new bill.

The key components of the new legislation include:

• A provision for Indiana’s casinos and racinos to offer online gaming
• The legalization of online poker
• Casinos allowed to partner with three online iGaming operators
• Hoosier Lottery permitted to launch iGaming
• $500,000 initial license fee and $50,000 yearly renewal fee
• Online casino revenue tax rate of 18%

It’s hoped that the bill will pass in time for a September 2023 launch — a similar timeline to the launch of sports betting in Indiana which saw legislation signed in March 2019 and sportsbooks accept their first wagers by September of that year.

The lawmakers’ previous attempt was defeated thanks in large part to industry pressure following the pandemic. Casino operators feared that an online industry would negatively impact the land-based industry.

However, now that the retail industry is back up and running, casino operators are expected to welcome the new bill. This is particularly true given that, according to the new legislation, all licenses to operate online casino games must be tied to a land-based casino.

Source: https://gamblingindustrynews.com/news/regulation/indiana-introduce-online-casino-bill-jan-2023/