The latest monthly revenue figures released by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission show that sportsbooks took in over $143 million in bets for the month of February.
Although the $143.6 million in wagers is down 3.9% on January’s record-breaking $149.5 million, the state’s sportsbooks generated an average of $5.1 million per day over the 28 days of February. This was an increase on the $4.8 million daily bet average for the 31 days of January.
Iowa’s online sportsbooks pulled in $125.2 million which amounts to 87.2% of the state’s total sports betting handle.
The state’s first online sports betting operator William Hill took the market lead with $45.2 million in online wagers while DraftKings / BetRivers took in $38.9 million.
In-person sports betting operators posted a handle of $18.4 million with Ameristar II leading the retail market with $4.5 million in bets.
February’s Super Bowl brought in over $16.2 million in wagers although a small percentage of those bets were included in January’s figures.
February’s figures push Iowa’s lifetime sports betting handle past the $1.1 billion mark.
The recent surge in betting revenue in the Hawkeye State is believed to be a result of the removal of in-person registration requirements for new customers.
Jessica Welman, an analyst for PlayIA.com told Yahoo News:
“Iowa remains perhaps the most compelling case study yet on the effects of in-person registration requirements. February is a short month with only one NFL game to bet on, the Super Bowl, so the relatively flat month-over-month results can be misleading on the surface. But another strong showing still places Iowa in a class of states that are either larger or have far more mature gaming markets. And that would not be possible under the old requirements.”
While the state’s sportsbooks did report a drop of 32% in net receipts — down to $7.7 million from $11.3 million in January — sports betting still generated $520,444 in state taxes.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.