SPORTS BETTING

US – Iowa’s sportsbooks smash records in September

By Phil - 11 October 2021

Football sent bettors flocking into Iowa’s online and retail sportsbooks in September, shattering the record for monthly wagers while surpassing $200m for the first time, according to PlayIA, a leading source for news and analysis of the Iowa gaming market.

“The first full month of football was bound to cross new thresholds, and one of the most-watched Cy-Hawk games in history pushed the volume to another level,” said Russ Mitchell, lead analyst for PlayIA.com. “By any measure, September was a remarkable month. And the future looks just as bright as the Hawkeyes remain among the nation’s best, teams of regional interest litter baseball’s postseason, and bettors become increasingly comfortable with online betting.”

Bettors placed $210.4m in wagers at Iowa’s online and retail sportsbooks in September, up 94.1 per cent from $108.4m in August and up 190.7 per cent from $72.4m in the corresponding month a year ago, according to official data released Friday. The pace of betting rose to $6.8 million per day over the 30 days of September from $2.4m per day in September 2020.

September’s wagering easily broke the previous monthly record handle, which was $161.4m set in March.

Heavy promotion by sportsbooks sapped operator revenue, falling 13.5 per cent to $5.7m in September from $6.6m in August. But September revenue was up 10.6 per cent from $5.2m in September 2020, a month that included just two Iowa State games as Iowa sat out. September’s gain yielded $512,951 in tax revenue for the state.

September was a reversal from the slow summer months, which bottomed out with $89.6 million in wagering in July. For the year, Iowa sportsbooks have generated $1.2bn in bets, $74.8m in operator revenue, $5.2m in state taxes.

“Iowa was negatively affected by the slow summer season more than most markets, so it might be easy to lose sight of just how much growth the market is experiencing,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayIA.com. “Iowa will almost certainly triple the wagering compared with 2020 and could go even higher if a few things fall into place. That is dramatic growth by any measure.”

$186.5m of September’s bets were made through online sportsbooks, representing 88.6% of the state’s handle. Retail betting accounted for the remaining $23.9 million, though retail sportsbooks generated $4.2m of the state’s $5.7m in combined net receipts.

Caesars topped the online market with $66.5m in online wagers, yielding just $749 in net receipts. DraftKings was narrowly behind with $64.8m in online wagering, but revenue was whittled down to a $1.9m loss.

Ameristar Council Bluffs led retailers with $6m in wagers, which produced $200,864 in operator revenue. Diamond Jo Worth followed with $5.5m in bets, yielding $488,294 in revenue.

“Following the removal of in-person registration requirements earlier this year, online sportsbooks have a unique opportunity to build on the momentum created by such a strong September,” Mitchell said. “Operators will work hard in keeping new bettors engaged, especially those who placed a bet for the first time for the Cy-Hawk game. Those operators that are successful in those efforts will lift their fortunes for months to come.”