The absence of March Madness took its toll on the Indiana state sports betting handle last month. The basketball-crazy state reported only $74.8 million in sports betting handle for the month of March.

A decline in betting handle

The monthly sports betting handle for March was just $74,818,802, a 60% slump from February’s record figure of $187.2 million. The Indiana Gaming Commission released the figures on Thursday, suggesting a strong decline in sports betting handle but steady growth in mobile betting numbers. Online and mobile betting at the top sportsbooks of the state brought in $60.8 million which was a whopping 81.3% of the total betting handle for the month. In February, this number was just 78%.

If the COVID-19 advisory hadn’t canceled the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the state would have headed to another record-setting month. This would have been the first March Madness season with legalized sports betting in the state. Interestingly, the NBA franchise Indiana Pacers are also done with their regular season and are now eyeing the playoffs with the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Indiana was expected to host Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in both men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments this year. The men’s events were scheduled for March 26 and 28 in the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis while the women’s events were scheduled between March 27 and March 30 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. The Big Ten’s men’s basketball events were also planned for Bankers Life Field Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

States suffer because of cancellations

Indiana is not the only state that has reported or is expected to report a decline in sports betting handles in March owing to COVID-19 related cancellations. West Virginia reported a drop in revenue as well. Between February and March, its revenue dipped by 63%. The adjusted sports betting gross revenue for the month in Indiana was $5.5 million, which is a 50.5% drop from the previous month.

The 13 state-regulated gaming facilities in the state have remained closed since March 16 in public health interest. The good news for the state is that online and mobile wagering is growing steadily, following the path of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Both the states now witness over 85% of their total wagers online or on mobile. In Indiana, this figure has already touched 80% which means that the state has tremendous potential in this sector.