Online Sports Betting in Iowa Expands

Home » Iowa

by Kate

1 month ago

Bettors who live in Iowa have spent more than $22.1 million in sports bets since this year began. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission revealed these figures were the fifth highest in the previous 54 months.

In contrast to the initial month of 2023, revenue saw a substantial increase of 33.4%, attributed to a win rate surpassing the previous month by more than 1.4% points. Year-over-year, the handle experienced an 11.1% rise. However, both revenue and handle declined in comparison to the figures recorded in December.

The state’s tax earnings reached almost $1.5 million, contributing to the cumulative all-time total surpassing $40 million. Iowa upholds a sports betting revenue tax rate of 6.75%, tying with Nevada for the nation’s lowest rate.

Hawkeye State Sportsbooks Scores Big

DraftKings emerged as the leader in both revenue and handle as the year commenced. Their success translated to over $8 million in earnings from a total of $86.6 million in accepted bets, securing a 9.3% hold.

Notably, DraftKings has achieved revenue exceeding $8 million four times in the previous five months, aligning with the overall growth in operator revenue across the state.

FanDuel closely followed in revenue, achieving an all-time high of $7.9 million in the state with a hold of just under 12%. This marked the 13th instance in the past 15 months where the digital giant sustained a two-digit hold, supported by a state handle of $66.1 million.

ESPN BET is ranked fourth in the handle, amassing over $16 million, representing an 11.3% decrease from December. Although experiencing a decline in handle, it met its first-year target of a 7% mobile market share nationally for the sportsbook. However, January proved challenging for ESPN BET, concluding with a hold lower than 0.5% and revenue of less than $7,600.

Circa Sports faced its third consecutive monthly loss, recording its largest in 28 months of activity in Iowa. With bettors netting $122,358 against a $2.7 million handle, Circa finished with a win rate of minus-4.5%.

Tipico and Q Casino also began 2024 with deficits. Tipico incurred a loss of nearly $25,800 against bets totaling nearly $309,000. Q Casino, on the other hand, paid out almost $15,600 more than its handle of $230,000 plus.

Q Casino experienced an overall challenging month, with bettors on the retail side walking away with $53,268 in profit from nearly $743,000 in bets.

Caesars secured third place in both revenue and handle. Caesars generated over $1.7 million in revenue with a 5.4% hold from a $31.8 million handle.

BetMGM rounded out the top five in the handle, accumulating over $14.7 million in accepted wagers. This resulted in a 9.1% win rate and over $1.3 million in winnings.

Bet365 completed the top five in revenue. It has collected close to $862,000 with a 10.4% hold on nearly $8.3 million in handle. Collectively, the 18 mobile sportsbooks held 8.6% of a $238.4 million handle, resulting in $20.5 million in revenue.