Iowa sportsbooks post $215.9m handle in February
YOY increase sparked by bets other than football.
Sports bettors in Iowa loved the Super Bowl again this year, but action on other games drove strong numbers during the month of February.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) office reported $215.9m in bets wagered last month, up $72.3m from February 2021.
Numbers from the year’s shortest month were down from January 2022’s state record handle of $303.3m.
According to analysis from PlayIA.com, part of the PlayUSA Network, Iowa’s 2022 Super Bowl bets matched 2021 game wagers nearly dollar-for-dollar, but Iowa sports betting customers clearly found other events of interest as nearly all of the 50.3% gain from February 2021 to February 2022 came from bets outside the Super Bowl.
PlayIA noted the Iowa Gaming Association works with Iowa’s 18 sportsbooks to share an unaudited – bet reportedly accurate – look at Super Bowl betting volume. Iowa sportsbooks and their casino partners took $16.275m Super Bowl bets last month, which nearly matched the $16.3m placed in 2021.
Of the $215.9m in total online and retail wagers placed in February 2022, $195m of which were bet online.
Online and retail sportsbook operators reported $8.6m in revenue last month, an increase of 11.3% from $7.7m in February 2021.
Sports betting generated $593,540 in tax revenue for the state in February, the regulator revealed.
Caesars again topped the online market with $61.9m in wagers, which yielded $1.2m in net receipts. DraftKings was No. 2 with $52.3m in online wagering, producing $3.2m in revenue.
According to PlayIA, the sample size is “still a bit small” in Iowa’s budding sports betting industry, but analysts expect one more big month when the March 2022 numbers are released in early April. They noted March outpaced February and the Super Bowl last year, thanks to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
This year, not only are the University of Iowa and Iowa State in the men’s field, Iowa and Iowa State have two of the best women’s programs in the country. PlayIA noted sportsbooks have stepped up efforts to add betting lines for women’s games, as well.
In the Hawkeye State, the pace of sports betting slowed between April and August in 2021, but football ushered in a string of betting records last fall.
“A relatively flat Super Bowl handle was somewhat disappointing, but otherwise Iowa’s sportsbooks kept chugging along in February,” PlayIA lead analyst Russ Mitchell said in a statement. “A surge in betting should accompany March Madness, especially with Iowa and Iowa State in the field. And sportsbooks can breathe a sigh of relief now that baseball has apparently reached a labor deal.”
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