Iowa sportsbooks top $280m in bets for October
Continued unfolding of the football season accounts for the record-breaking month.
Iowa sportsbooks hit a record high for the month of $280m in bets in the month of October. According to analysts at PlayIA, it was on the strength of the football season that saw more wagers placed in the last three months ($599.8m) than in all of 2020 ($575.2m).
October’s numbers exceeded September’s by $70m, marking another milestone in a year that has seen sports betting skyrocket in the Hawkeye State. Since October 2020, the Iowa sports handle has risen by 243%, from $81.9m to $280.9m. On average, last month saw bettors make $9.1m in daily bets, eclipsing of the $2.6m per day seen in October 2020.
It’s been a boon to state coffers, too, with taxable revenue up 27.8% to $6.6m from $2.8m in October 2020.
The high figures are expected to continue at least through November, as the football season continues to unfold, baseball post-season gathers speed, and the NBA season begins.
As the sports handle has grown, so too have the number of operators. The last two months have seen the arrival of Fubo Sportsbook, Betway, Circa Sports, and Barstool Sports. With the recent additions, the total number of operators in the state now stands at 17.
Of these online operators, Caesars saw the most action with $97m in wagers (even as it lost $1.6m in revenue). DraftKings came in second with $76.4m.
Eric Ramsey, analyst at PlayUSA.com Network, noted the more egalitarian setting for sportsbooks allowed by Iowa’s regulations: “Iowa is an enticing market for operators because it has a fair regulatory framework and top operators, such as FanDuel, and DraftKings, don’t dominate the market as much as in other states. That provides an opportunity for smaller operators to gain a foothold, which does not exist in larger and more established markets.”
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