Revenue from mobile and online sports betting in Iowa hit a record $19.7 million in November, according to data from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC). Handle also hit a record $287.2 million for the month.
The figures show that the Hawkeye State is on pace to break full-year records in both metrics in fiscal year (FY) 2022, which began in July and ends in June 2022.
Online sports betting revenue totaled $90 million in FY2021 and the handle was $1.2 billion, according to the IRGC. Revenue was $25.7 million and the handle was $368 million in FY2020, but that fiscal year only includes 11 months since the market launched in August 2019.
To date, revenue from mobile and online sports betting has totaled $46.3 million through November — just five months of FY2022. The handle to date is $976.5 million, IRGC data show. At that pace, revenue would hit $111 million and the handle $2.3 billion by the end of FY2022.
Caesars Bounces Back from Disastrous October
Caesars Sportsbook bounced back from losing nearly $1.6 million in mobile and online sports betting revenue in October. The operator grossed $4.7 million in November, the highest among the state’s 17 online sportsbooks. Caesars also had the biggest online handle at $104 million.
FanDuel Sportsbook was second in terms of revenue in November at $4.2 million, up from $2.1 million in October. DraftKings was third with $4 million in revenue, but DraftKings saw a much bigger handle — $75.1 million — compared to FanDuel’s $32.7 million.
BetMGM was the only other sportsbook with revenue of at least seven figures, grossing $1.7 million in November. Its handle was $19.5 million.
Penn National’s Barstool Sportsbook launched in November and generated more than $770k in revenue with a $9.9 million handle. PointsBet was next with $372k in revenue, followed by Elite Sportsbook at $212k, BetRivers Sportsbook at $195k, theScore Bet at $186k, and Betfred Sportsbook at more than $172k.
Hard Rock led the group of Iowa’s smallest online sports betting partners in November with nearly $84k in revenue. The rest of the field included Circa Sports ($39k), Unibet ($28k), Betway ($21k), Fubo ($20k), Q Sportsbook ($16k), and Bally Bet ($3k).
Nineteen Sportsbooks and Counting
The Hawkeye State has 19 sportsbooks in total, all of which are partnered with either a racino or a land-based or riverboat casino.
Caesars has by far the biggest footprint in Iowa — it operates retail and mobile sportsbooks at six properties:
- Harrah’s Council Bluffs Hotel and Casino, a land-based casino in Council Bluffs
- Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino, another land-based property in Council Bluffs
- Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo, a land-based facility in Waterloo
- Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf, a land-based casino in Bettendorf
- Lakeside Hotel Casino, a riverboat casino in Osceola
- Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack & Hotel, a racino in Altoona
Harrah’s also has an online sportsbook through Unibet.
Meanwhile, FanDuel operates retail sportsbooks at the Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque and the Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood. FanDuel also runs an online sportsbook at Diamond Jo in Dubuque, but Betway also operates one through the same property. BetMGM operates the only online sportsbook at Diamond Jo Worth.
DraftKings — in partnership with Wild Rose Casino & Resorts — operates both retail and online sportsbooks at Wild Rose land-based facilities in Clinton, Emmetsburg, and Jefferson. BetRivers Sportsbook is also active through the Clinton and Jefferson properties, while Circa Sports operates its sportsbook through the casino in Emmetsburg. Circa is also available in Colorado and Nevada.
Three sportsbook arrangements are fairly straightforward. Fubo operates retail and online sportsbooks for the riverboat Casino Queen Marquette, while PointsBet does likewise for the land-based Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington. Hard Rock operates its own branded sportsbooks — retail and online — through the land-based Hard Rock Casino Hotel & Casino Sioux City.
The arrangements are a little more complicated at the riverboat Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, which operates its own branded retail sportsbook and has theScore Bet and Barstool Sportsbook for mobile and online. At the land-based Grand Falls Casino Resort in Larchwood, Betfred runs retail and online sportsbooks while Bally Bet operates an online book.
Elite Sportsbook operates both retail and online sportsbooks at two land-based facilities — Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport and Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside. Q Sportsbook operates retail and online sportsbooks at the Q Casino, a racino in Dubuque. Elite Sportsbook is also available in Colorado, but Q Sportsbook is only available in Iowa.
Iowa is also home to four tribal casinos: Blackbird Bend Casino in Onawa, Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, and WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan. No revenue or handle data was included in data provided by the IRGC.
