Indiana 2024 Online Gaming Blocked Due to Corruption Scandal
Hopes for any possible Indiana real money online gaming bill appearing in 2024 have been dashed according to comments made by state legislative leaders. This is because of the negative atmosphere surrounding gambling following the conviction of former Indiada State Representative Sean Eberhart (R) on corruption charges related to brick-and-mortar gambling within the state.
Corruption Linked to Casino Company
On Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, Sean Eberhart pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. At the time of his crime, in 2019, he was a state representative for Indiana’s District 57 although he left office in November 2022.
In 2018, a casino firm known as Spectacle Entertainment sought legislative approval to purchase two casinos in Gary and relocate them elsewhere in the state. Eberhart, who was a member of the House Committee on Public Policy, advocated for Spectacle and attempted to secure a favorable deal for the corporation. As compensation for his support, Spectacle supposedly promised Eberhart future employment at a rate of no less than $350,000 per year.
Disgraced Indiana Lawmaker Sean EberhartThe gambling bill that eventually passed, H105, dealt mostly with sports betting but did also contain provisions allowing for the transfer of casino licenses along the lines that Spectacle Entertainment wanted. Law enforcement gathered evidence of Eberhart's improprieties by reading his text messages and covertly recording his conversations.
Lawmakers React
With the shadow of Eberhart's shady activities hanging over the entire Indiana casino industry, legislators don't believe that it would be appropriate to proceed with legalization of online poker sites or casino operations in the 2024 session. State Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R) explained:
It taints the Statehouse. It diminishes the confidence that people have in the integrity of the Statehouse. It causes an awful lot of problems, and it makes it particularly difficult to engage in that kind of policy.
State House Speaker Todd Huston (R) agreed with Bray that following Eberhart's guilty plea, the environment is not right for any new gaming legislation in Indiana in 2024.
Comprehensive Gaming Bill Forestalled
State Senator Jon Ford (R) and State Representative Ethan Manning (R) had intended to introduce a gaming modernization bill in 2024. In addition to making online casinos legal, the bill would have tackled responsible gaming, gambling advertising, and terrestrial casino locations. Ford was a champion of the successful 2019 law that legalized Indiana sports betting. However, his new bill will likely not see the light of day at least until 2025.
We can gain an understanding of what Ford and Manning had planned for 2024 by looking at HB 1536, an online gaming bill that was introduced in January 2023 by Manning but didn't progress far in the legislative process. This bill would have allowed the Indiana Gaming Commission to license riverboat casinos and racetracks to offer “poker, blackjack, or other card, slot, and gambling games typically offered in a casino” over the internet. Each licensee would have to pay an application fee of $500,000 followed by annual fees of $50,000 and taxes of 20% of gross gaming revenue.
Each igaming license holder would be able to manage up to three skins – that is, distinct brands running on separate platforms. They could contract with interactive gaming management vendors for the operation of any interenet gaming platform. Such vendors would also have to be licensed with an application fee of $100,000 and an annual fee of $25,000.
In addition to online gaming, the proposed legislation would have allowed the Indiana Lottery Commission to sell draw games and digital scratch-offs over the internet.
In October 2023, however, State Senator Ford resigned his seat. With one of the biggest proponents of Indiana igaming now removed from the chessboard, it will become all the more challenging for any online gambling legislation to succeed moving forward.
Former Indiana State Senator Jon FordExisting Indiana Gambling
Indiana has a bustling brick-and-mortar gambling scene, which includes a lottery, commercial casinos, parimutuel racetracks, and a single tribal casino. In addition, many types of charitable gaming are premitted to qualifying organizations, like bingo, pull tabls, and game nights.
Following the passage of the sports betting law, the first physical sportsbooks opened in Indiana casinos in September 2019. Licensed online sportsbooks started doing business in the state the next month.
Given the breadth of the existing IN gambling industry and the fact that it has already successfully expanded on to the internet with sports betting, it seems like the time is ripe for licensed online casino and poker sites. Nevertheless, the fallout from the Eberhart/Spectacle scandal may delay this development for several years more.
Not Spectacle Entertainment's First Run-in With the Law
Spectacle Entertainment, the major villain in the case of Senator Eberhart, has been caught doing wrong in the past. Two of its executives were implicated in a campaign contributions scheme in 2020 in a scandal that also saw former State Senator Brent Waltz (R) sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
Spectacle has since been forced to divest itself of any ownership interest it held in Indiana casinos. That process has been completed, and none of the current Indiana casino owners are tied in any way to Spectacle Entertainment.
The departure of Spectacle from the Indiana gambling scene should make it easier for online gaming legalization to proceed in future years. Nevertheless, it may take a while before lawmakers feel comfortable revisiting the topic of interactive gaming.
Online Poker + Casino Available Now
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