The Iowa Gaming Association is redoubling its efforts to legalize online gambling in the Midwestern state. If this push by the trade association were to come into effect, it would mark the latest in a string of policies that have seen Iowans become more open to the idea of legalized gaming in one form or another. Two years ago, governor Kim Reynolds legalized sports betting in the state.
The legalization of online gambling in the state is by no means a foregone conclusion. Legislation would be required to have it pass; it is still unknown how popular the measures are in the Iowa General Assembly; and, perhaps most pivotally, the depth of opposition is still unknown.
Of the opposition that has already emerged, much of it has to do with online betting cutting into revenue of such land-based institutions such as Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel in Polk County. Casino CEO Gary Palmer pointed out that 95% of sports betting through the casino was already done offsite and that, by further expanding online gambling, foot traffic could be adversely affected.
Polk County Chair Angela Connolly was direct when, citing the expected decline in county revenue were online betting to become legal, she said bluntly, “We hope to stop it.” The state of Iowa depends on these land-based casinos for hundreds of millions of dollars in online revenue.
Of course, the smart implementation of online betting carries with it the possibility of raising state revenue, too. These are issues that people on both sides of the debate are preparing to take up.
The increasing legalization of gambling in Iowa has a long precedent. Peri-mutuel betting on horses and dogs was legalized in 1983, followed by the creation of the Iowa lottery in 1985 and the opening of the first riverboat casino in 1991.
