How to get a gambling licence in Indiana: by tender

The Indiana Gaming Commission, a seven-member body appointed by the governor, regulates online sports wagering and paid fantasy sports, and issues and supervises every licence for them. The Department of State Revenue collects the sports wagering tax.

• There is no separate advertising regulator. The Commission enforces the sports wagering advertising rule, 68 IAC 27-7-17, itself.
• There is no separate Indiana anti-money-laundering authority. The Commission requires operators to meet the federal requirements, and a casino with gross annual gaming revenue above $1 million must also run a federal anti-money-laundering programme.
• There is a separate licence for each regime. Sports wagering, paid fantasy sports and casino gambling each have their own, and there is no single licence across products.
• As of the register dates read on 7 November 2026 there were 13 certificate holder entities (16 facilities), 11 vendors, 19 service providers and 13 paid fantasy sports operators.
• The 2026 session added no new licence class for online products.

Laws that apply

• Indiana Code, Title 4, Article 38 (Sports Wagering), IC 4-38-1 to IC 4-38-11, including IC 4-38-4 (certificate of authority), IC 4-38-6 (vendors), IC 4-38-7 (service providers) and IC 4-38-10 (tax)
• Indiana Code, Title 4, Article 33, Chapter 24 (Paid Fantasy Sports) and Chapter 7 (Suppliers)
• 68 IAC 27 (Sports Wagering), 68 IAC 26 (Paid Fantasy Sports), 68 IAC 2 (Licenses and approval of associated equipment) and 68 IAC 28 (Fine schedule)
• IC 35-45-5 (Gambling), the offences that apply to everything not licensed, and IC 4-33-10-7 (Internet sweepstakes games, P.L.153-2026)
• IGC Gaming Entity Licensing Guidance (last updated August 2025) and IGC directives, including the Directive on Betting Catalogues, Wagers and Other Events

Indiana licenses three kinds of business for online sports wagering, a certificate holder, a vendor and a service provider, plus suppliers and individuals, and a separate operator licence for paid fantasy sports. The number of online licences is limited indirectly, through who can hold the certificate.

• Only an existing casino, racino or off-track betting licensee can hold a certificate of authority, and the number of casino owner's licences is capped and allocated by place (land-based). Each certificate holder may contract with at most three individually branded vendors for mobile sports wagering.
• There is no cap on service provider, supplier or paid fantasy sports operator licences.
• A certificate is issued for each licensed facility. The vendor register prints one row for each pairing of a vendor brand and a certificate holder, and the statute does not say whether a vendor needs a separate licence for each certificate holder it serves.
• As printed on 27 July 2026, no certificate holder has more than two mobile brands. Neither IC 4-38 nor 68 IAC 27 limits domains or websites per brand.
• A temporary licence for a supplier or fantasy sports operator is valid for one year and a vendor's temporary licence for one year after the vendor is given express authorisation to conduct sports wagering; each can be renewed.
• Occupational licences are held by individuals. All key persons and substantial owners of an operator applicant need a Level 1 licence, and an employee, contractor, agent or subagent a Level 2 licence if the executive director decides it is necessary.
• The IGC decides which licence an entity needs after it submits a Gaming Entity Inquiry Form.

No Indiana company, office, director or minimum share capital is required, and nothing separates EU, EEA or other foreign applicants from US ones. What decides an application is suitability, and for an online entrant the practical route is a contract with a certificate holder.

• A certificate of authority can only be held by an Indiana casino, racino or off-track betting facility, so a non-US company enters the online market as a vendor or service provider contracted with such a holder. A vendor or service provider must have an agreement or statement of intent with a certificate holder or vendor.
• No Indiana incorporation test applies to a vendor or service provider, and a branch is not excluded. Only paid fantasy sports operators must be authorised to transact business in Indiana under IC 23.
• No local office, bank account, director or representative is required. A server in Indiana is required, the application is filed at the IGC's Indianapolis office, and the premises where the system is housed must be open to inspection.
• No minimum share capital is set. The financial requirement is a reserve against player liabilities (section 5).
• Every key person and substantial owner of a certificate of authority or vendor applicant must qualify for a Level 1 occupational licence, complete a Personal Disclosure Form 1 and give fingerprints. An individual applicant or substantial owner must be 21, in substantial compliance with tax laws, with no gaming-law conviction in any jurisdiction and not on any jurisdiction's exclusion list for breaking a gaming rule.
• For a vendor, the Commission weighs the character, reputation, experience and financial integrity of the applicant and of anyone who controls it or is controlled by it. The Commission also considers the suitability findings of other jurisdictions where a service provider is licensed.
• A supplier may not be licensed with a felony conviction, a false application, or an officer, director or managerial employee with a felony conviction.
• A denied applicant may not reapply for one year unless the Commission grants leave.

The first step is the Gaming Entity Inquiry Form, after which the IGC's Legal Division decides whether and which licence is needed and staff send the application. No application window and no official timeline are published.

• Submit the Gaming Entity Inquiry Form first. An application will not be processed unless the Commission has determined that the entity requires the licence. Fees go by certified or cashier's check payable to the Indiana Gaming Commission, or another form the Commission prescribes.
• Sports wagering and paid fantasy sports applications are handled by the IGC's Sports Wagering and Paid Fantasy Sports staff, at [email protected]. Occupational applications are submitted outside the IGC's Licensing and Application Management system, once the individual has an offer of employment from an Indiana casino, supplier or sports wagering vendor.
• A vendor applicant must have its entity application and draft internal controls reviewed by the IGC before it submits any occupational applications, and is then directed to submit its Personal Disclosure Forms.
• A certificate of authority or vendor application contains the legal details, a Personal Disclosure Form 1 for each substantial owner and key person, the services and equipment offered, the corporate form, relevant contracts, disclosure of criminal, civil or administrative actions, other licences, the business plan with employment plans and server location, three years of financial records, and organisation and ownership charts. No financial projections are listed.
• A service provider application needs the legal details, services offered, corporate form, charts, disclosures, other licences, and any testing or certification from an authorised independent gaming laboratory or another gaming jurisdiction.
• Three forms of pre-approval exist: the inquiry form, a temporary licence on a completed or substantially complete application that can be rescinded at any time if suitability is at issue and the applicant fails to cooperate, and review of draft internal controls before a vendor files occupational applications.
• The Commission grants permanent licences by order at its quarterly business meetings. The register's history shows vendor launch authorisations ranging from weeks to more than a year after the initial licence, which is history and not an official target.
• A temporary vendor licence does not let the vendor launch: the Commission must give express authorisation first.
• A refusal may be challenged: an applicant served with a notice of denial or nonrenewal may request a hearing under 68 IAC 7, and if it does not request one in time the notice becomes the final order.

A vendor pays $100,000 to apply and $50,000 a year, and an operator holds a reserve of at least $500,000. There is no separate issuance fee and no bank guarantee lodged with the regulator.

• The application fee is applied to the suitability investigation, and a vendor applicant pays any investigation cost above it. Investigations are billed at $65 an investigation hour.
• For an online sportsbook run by a vendor, the minimum fixed regulatory payments are $100,000 plus the first $50,000 annual fee, which falls due one year after the vendor begins services: $150,000 by the end of the first year of service.
• The first annual fee falls due one year after the holder begins operations or the vendor begins services, then on each anniversary. Each vendor a certificate holder contracts with pays its own fees.
• A reserve in cash, cash equivalents, payment processor reserves or receivables, an irrevocable letter of credit, a bond or a combination, of not less than the greater of $500,000 or the amount needed to cover outstanding sports wagering liability. A fantasy sports operator holds a reserve equal to participants' deposits.
• No fee is set per domain or website, and no responsible gambling contribution or charitable contribution is payable by the licensee.
• Certification and audit costs are the operator's own: laboratory testing before use and annually, an independent system integrity and security assessment, and an annual financial audit. The rules set no price.
• Not included in the fixed figures above: the 9.5% tax, laboratory testing, the independent assessment, investigation hours above the fee, and the reserve, which is a commitment and not a fee.

Indiana taxes the adjusted gross receipts from authorised sports wagering at 9.5%, retail and online alike, paid by the certificate holder each month on the 24th. Paid fantasy sports pays licence fees and no wagering tax, and no online casino rate exists because none is licensed.

• Adjusted gross receipts are the cash and property received from authorised sports wagering, less cash paid out as winnings and uncollectible gaming receivables capped at the lesser of a reasonable provision for uncollectible patron checks or 2% of the sums received less winnings. They are not turnover or stakes.
• There is no deduction for bonuses, free bets or promotional credits; the only deductions are cash winnings paid and the capped uncollectible receivables. If a day's receipts are negative, no tax is due for that day and the negative figure is carried forward until it reaches zero.
• Tax is paid on the 24th calendar day of each month and reported and remitted electronically through the Department of State Revenue's online tax filing program. Failure to pay or file on time allows the Commission to suspend or revoke the certificate.
• Of the tax collected, 3.33% is transferred to the addiction services fund. That is a distribution of the 9.5%, not an extra charge on the operator. Where a vendor runs the platform, the certificate holder remains the taxpayer.
• There is no minimum fixed gambling tax and no advertising or sponsorship tax. Indiana has no value added tax, and the gross retail tax exempts lottery tickets authorised by IC 4-30.
• The federal corporate rate is 21%. The federal deduction for wagering taxes had to be added back to Indiana income on a declining percentage until taxable years beginning after 31 December 2025, when no add-back is required.
• Players: winnings are taxable federally and in Indiana. The Indiana individual rate is 3% for taxable years beginning in 2025, 2.95% for 2026 and 2.9% for taxable years beginning after 31 December 2026 and before 1 January 2030, plus a county income tax of 0.5% to 3.0% for withholding periods from 1 October 2026. Indiana does not allow a deduction for gambling losses.
• Federal sports wagering withholding is 24% when winnings minus the wager exceed $5,000 and are at least 300 times the wager. Indiana withholding on slot machine and keno winnings of $2,000 or more applies to casinos and racinos (land-based).

Indiana licenses no game provider as such because it permits only sports wagering online. Businesses that supply services or equipment hold a service provider or supplier licence, and the platform must be certified in Indiana whatever certificate it holds abroad.

• The IGC technical standard for online sports wagering is GLI-33. The entire system must be submitted to an Indiana approved authorised independent testing laboratory before sports wagering starts and annually afterwards.
• A certificate obtained abroad does not replace Indiana certification. Foreign test reports are disclosed in a service provider application but no rule lets them stand in for Indiana certification.
• There is no individual game certification. The operator needs approval of each event category and of events other than professional and collegiate sports, and must submit catalogues before wagers are offered.
• A server in Indiana is required, at a location with 24-hour surveillance approved by the executive director. Cloud hosting is permitted, and a duplicate copy of data may be held in cloud storage if the executive director approves a written request. No local domain is required.
• Geolocation is required. A geofence system must detect the physical location of a patron and block attempts from outside Indiana.
• The Commission has direct access to the system and its transmissions, and daily revenue reports and prompt notices replace any named real-time reporting protocol.
• An independent system integrity and security assessment is due within 90 days of starting and annually, delivered to the Commission by 15 July each year, and an annual financial audit is due within 90 days of the fiscal year end.
• No minimum or maximum return applies to online sports wagering, and no fixed stake or winnings cap is set by law; house rules may set maximum payouts only by limiting the amount wagered.
• A level 3 change to the system needs Commission review and approval, and level 1 and 2 changes must be notified by email before deployment.

The minimum age is 21. A full identity check is completed before a player can wager, credit cards are permitted, and two statewide exclusion programs bind licensed operators.

• A person under 21 may not wager or deposit, and paid fantasy sports has a lower age of 18.
• The operator creates a patron file with the legal name, date of birth, Social Security number (or the last four digits, or an equivalent identification number for a noncitizen), username, residential address (not a post office box), email, telephone and the identity-verification method and date. No single method or national digital identity is mandated.
• Accounts may be funded by credit or debit card, a verified reloadable prepaid card, ACH, wire transfer, cash or vouchers at an approved cashier, promotional credit and winnings. Transfers from one patron account to another are prohibited, and no payment method is expressly prohibited otherwise.
• No local bank or licensed payment provider is required, and the rules do not require withdrawals to return to the funding source.
• A withdrawal must be honoured within five business days, unless the operator believes in good faith that the patron engaged in fraud or conduct that would put it in breach of the law, in which case it sends a written status notice every tenth business day.
• The Internet Self-Restriction Program bars a person from licensed online sports wagering statewide for one or five years. The Voluntary Exclusion Program, which since P.L.153-2026 also covers certificate holders, offers one year, five years or lifetime. The Commission sends operators the lists, and operators do not connect to them technically.
• Operators must offer patrons an easy way to set deposit, wager and time limits, but limits are not mandatory. No rule requires reality checks, a cooling-off period or responsible gambling training.
• Each website and app must show a responsible gaming logo linking to a page that carries the message 'If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT', which is 1-800-994-8448.
• The operator must investigate each written complaint and respond within ten calendar days. Complaints that cannot be resolved go to the Commission's Sports Wagering Division, and no independent alternative dispute resolution provider is required.

Licensed operators may advertise in any medium under the content rules in 68 IAC 27-7-17, enforced by the Commission, and no advertisement needs approval in advance. There is no licensed online casino advertising because no online casino is licensed.

• The conditions: not false or misleading, no direct advertising or promotion to minors, the 1-800-9-WITH-IT message, a statement that patrons must be 21 or older, and no claim of greater chances of winning than other operators or from wagering a greater amount. Direct marketing must allow an unsubscribe option.
• Television, radio, outdoor, online and social media advertising are allowed, with no watershed and no restriction during live sports events. Sponsorship of teams, leagues or events is not regulated.
• Paid fantasy sports operators may not advertise in media aimed exclusively at juveniles, or advertise or run promotions at elementary or high schools or at sports venues used exclusively for their student sports.
• The operator answers for advertising by affiliates and partners acting on its behalf, and affiliates that market sports wagering websites must register with the Commission.
• Welcome bonuses and free bets may be advertised if the material terms appear close to the headline claim in a reasonably prominent size. No rule caps a welcome bonus or a wagering requirement, but a bonus must not stop a patron withdrawing the patron's own funds.
• An offer may not be described as risk free if the patron needs to risk the patron's own money to use it or withdraw winnings from it.
• Operators may not market to participants in the Internet Self-Restriction Program, and must keep prohibited participants off direct marketing; marketing is treated as met if no marketing is received more than 45 days after notice.
• Influencer content published on behalf of an operator is advertising and must meet the same rules, and sponsored posts must disclose the connection.

Operators report adjusted gross receipts by gaming day, pay tax monthly, and commission an annual audit and an annual security assessment. Unlicensed online gambling is a criminal offence, and the Commission settles most licensee matters for small stated sums.

• A suspicious activity report to FinCEN is due no later than 30 calendar days after a casino's initial detection of facts that may be a basis for filing. A certificate holder or vendor must also promptly report suspicious or illegal wagering to the Commission.
• No local money laundering reporting officer is required. The federal programme must provide for an individual to assure day-to-day compliance, with no residence requirement.
• Ownership and key person changes must be notified, and an ownership interest in a certificate of authority or vendor licence may not be transferred unless the transfer complies with 68 IAC 5, which requires approval to transfer an ownership interest of 5% or more in a casino licensee or supplier licensee.
• The Commission may revoke, suspend or renew certificates and licences, and may suspend or revoke a certificate of authority that does not file its tax payment or return on time.
• The largest settlement with an online sports wagering operator in 2024 to 2026 is $54,000 (BetRivers, 26 September 2024), for failing to apply the exclusion list. On 24 September 2026 the Commission approved $1,500 each for Fanatics, Bally Bet and Hard Rock Digital, and $3,000 for a supplier.
• Statutory caps are the greater of $10,000 or the day's gross receipts for an owner or operating agent, $25,000 for a supplier and $5,000 for an occupational licensee per violation.
• The IGC publishes a register for each class and a License Verifications page that links them. The registers print only current licensees, and licensing orders are published separately.
• Unlicensed operators face criminal law: an individual who uses the Internet for unlawful or professional gambling commits a Level 6 felony, and a player who gambles commits a Class B misdemeanor. No regulator has a power to block websites, domains, apps or payments, and as of 7 November 2026 no use of these routes against an unlicensed online operator is on record.

The route most online entrants take: a vendor's licence, applied for once an agreement or statement of intent with a certificate holder is in place. The service provider, supplier and fantasy sports routes follow.

1. 01

   Choose your route

   IC 4-38-4 · IC 4-38-6 · IC 4-38-7

   Decide whether you will run an online brand as a vendor, serve vendors as a service provider or supplier, or run paid fantasy contests. Only a casino, racino or off-track betting facility can hold the certificate of authority, and online casino and poker have no licence.

2. 02

   Agree terms with a certificate holder

   IC 4-38-6-8 · IGC licensing guidance

   A vendor needs an agreement or statement of intent with a certificate holder, which may contract with at most three individually branded vendors.

3. 03

   Send the Gaming Entity Inquiry Form

   68 IAC 27-2-1 · IGC licensing guidance

   The Legal Division decides whether and which licence is needed, then staff send the application. No application is processed before that.

4. 04

   Disclose the people and prepare the filing

   68 IAC 27-2-2 · 68 IAC 27-2-5

   Each key person and substantial owner completes a Personal Disclosure Form 1 ($1,000 each) and gives fingerprints. Prepare the business plan with server location, three years of financial records and the ownership charts.

5. 05

   File and pay the $100,000 fee

   IC 4-38-6-3

   File in the Commission's Indianapolis office. The fee is non-refundable and is applied to the investigation; pay any cost above it. A temporary licence may be granted, but the vendor cannot launch on it.

6. 06

   Certify the platform and set up the reserve

   68 IAC 27-6-1 · 68 IAC 27-3-1

   An Indiana approved laboratory tests the whole system against GLI-33, a server in Indiana is set up with geolocation, and a reserve of the greater of $500,000 or the outstanding liability is in place.

7. 07

   Get express authorisation, go live and keep filing

   IC 4-38-10 · 68 IAC 27-2-8

   The Commission gives express authorisation before launch. Pay the 9.5% tax by the 24th of each month, the $50,000 annual fee, and renew the vendor's licence annually.

For businesses that supply sports wagering devices or services, risk management, integrity services or odds (service provider), or equipment and services to a casino or sports wagering vendor (supplier).

1. 01

   Confirm the class

   IC 4-38-7 · IC 4-33-7

   The Commission decides which licence an entity needs after the inquiry form. Contracted providers outside both licences, and affiliates, were to register as sports wagering registrants, which the IGC no longer enforces.

2. 02

   File the application and pay

   68 IAC 27-2-2 · 68 IAC 2-2-2

   A service provider pays $10,000 once. A supplier pays $5,000 to apply, then a $7,500 permanent licence fee on notice of suitability.

3. 03

   Disclose testing and approvals

   68 IAC 27-2-2

   A service provider lists testing, certifications or approvals on any component from an authorised independent gaming laboratory or another gaming jurisdiction.

4. 04

   Hold the licence

   68 IAC 2-2-3

   A service provider licence has no annual renewal. A supplier pays $7,500 a year and renews annually.

For operators of paid fantasy and pick'em contests, which are licensed in Indiana and are not gambling in law.

1. 01

   Check the contest design

   IC 4-33-24-9

   No winning outcome may rest solely on a single performance of one athlete in one event, a single team, or college or high school sports. Participants must be 18.

2. 02

   File and pay

   IC 4-33-24-15 · 68 IAC 26-3-2

   Be authorised to transact business in Indiana, file the prescribed form, and pay at least $50,000, which the division may raise to $75,000 to cover its costs.

3. 03

   Hold a reserve and segregate funds

   IC 4-33-24-24

   Hold a reserve equal to participants' account deposits, and an annual financial audit by a certified public accountant.

4. 04

   Renew each year

   68 IAC 26-3-10

   Renew annually with the $5,000 fee; the licence expires if renewal is not requested within one year of issue.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 7 Nov 2026.