CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - September brought the return of the NFL, college football, and more NBA playoffs, and the state of Iowa reports the sports betting certainly followed.
The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission released the September data where sports betting handle, mobile handle and revenue all set record highs.
“Iowa casinos saw attendance increase by about 300,000 people over the last 3 months. While casino revenue remained flat and sports betting revenue rose significantly, it’s safe to assume Iowa sports fans are showing up to Iowa’s physical sportsbooks to place their bets and register for their mobile betting apps as the fall sports season heats up,” said Max Bichsel, VP of US business for Gambling.com Group. “It’s been a perfect storm for Iowa to hit another record month with Iowa State football leading the Big 12 and a slew of major league sports drawing attention including the return of the NFL, the NHL Stanley Cup and the NBA and MLB playoffs.”
People in Iowa bet more than $72 million dollars at the state’s sports books. Out of that, the casinos kept $5 million in revenue. Out of that $5 million, the state keeps about 7% of that in tax revenue.
However, sports betting does not make up a large chunk of overall casino revenue in Iowa -- only about 4%.
- September sports betting handle $72,397,241, up 43.9% from August
- September sports betting revenue $5,167,819, up 72% from August
- September mobile sports betting handle $50,010,623, up 42.9% from August
- September sports betting tax $348,827, up 72% from August
- September casino revenue $119,435,941, up .3% from August
- September casino tax revenue $26,886,452.00, up 34% from July
“Iowa continues to see sports betting revenue climb at a significantly higher pace now than even before last winter, before the pandemic. Iowa is only the 5th state to reach the milestone of half a billion in legal sports bets placed (behind New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Mississippi.)," said Bichsel.
https://www.kcrg.com/2020/10/09/sports-betting-reaches-record-levels/