Indy 500 Low Betting Interest

The Indianapolis 500 took place this past weekend, but fans were not allowed to attend the event.

Not only did this take away from the usual festive atmosphere at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but it also had an impact on betting.

The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 was originally scheduled to take place on Memorial Day weekend, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back to late August. The hope was that postponing the event would allow for fans to attend the big race.

Betting interest in the entire sport of IndyCar racing has seen a major decline in recent years, and that trend continued this year. Sportsbooks used to see a huge number of bets placed on the Indianapolis 500, but the betting action was extremely limited this year, especially in states outside of Indiana.

Most Action Comes From Indiana

The sports betting industry in Indiana has seen tremendous growth since launching in September 2019, reaching over $1 billion in betting handle since launch. Sportsbooks in Indiana still saw some betting action on the Indianapolis 500, but they were about the only markets that were experiencing an influx of bets.

BetRivers Indiana announced before the race that over 60 percent of all bets placed on Sunday sporting events were on the big race. BetRivers promoted the race on its platforms throughout Indiana, which helped to bring in some action.

DraftKings Sportsbook is the leader in the industry in the state of Indiana, and they saw similar betting action. DraftKings reported that 82 percent of all bets placed on the Indianapolis 500 were made in the state of Indiana, highlighting the fact that most of the country was not interested in the race.

Indiana Grand Racing and Casino also saw several wagers placed on the Indianapolis 500 but admitted that the total amount of money was much smaller than in previous years.

Underdog Wins the Race

Scott Dixon entered the race as the betting favorite to win the Indianapolis 500, and a majority of the bets were on the 2008 winner. DraftKings announced that Dixon had generated almost 25 percent of all of the betting handle for the race.

Marco Andretti was the next most popular choice to win the race, according to DraftKings, and he was the pole-sitter in advance of the race. Andretti was listed at +700 early on Sunday morning, and those odds dropped from +800.

While both of these drivers brought in a ton of betting action, it was an underdog that came away with the victory. Takuma Sato was listed at +1600 at DraftKings before the race began, but he was the winner of the 2020 Indianapolis 500.

Sportsbooks generally suffer a huge financial hit when a big underdog wins the race, but that won’t be the case for sportsbooks throughout the US. The lack of general interest in the race will keep sportsbooks from paying out large sums of money.

For more sports news and legal sports betting in Indiana, check out more stories on our blog.

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