Sports betting in Iowa finally has something to cheer about, as the state's legal sports betting handle has finally increased... for the first time in five months.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported today that sports betting generated a handle of $122.6 million in August — a 12.9% increase from July and the highest total since the $233.5 million worth of wagers reported in March.
The sports betting revenue also increased by 29.7% percent, up to $14.4 million (from July's $11.1 million), with the 11.8% hold an increase from last month's 10.2% ledger — and well above the 5.3% win rate in June.
As well, each of the 19 casinos partnered with sportsbooks contributed, in some manner, to the nearly $970K paid in state revenue tax this month.
In terms of where bettors were wagering, online sports betting was by far still the preference in the Hawkeye State, accounting for 89.8% of the handle and 81.2% of the revenue.
The Diamond Jo Casino (partnered with FanDuel, Circa Sports, and BetMGM) - Dubuque led the way with $29.7 million in handle and $3.3 million in revenue, followed by the Wild Rose (partnered with DraftKings, Betway, and BetRivers) - Jefferson ($17.2 million handle/$1.7 million revenue) and then the Diamond Jo - Worth ($16.4 million/$2.2 million).
As for individual online operator rankings in August:
1) DraftKings: $33.2 million in total handle/$3.5 million in revenue.
2) FanDuel: $29.3 million handle/$3.2 million revenue.
3) Caesars: $22.1 million handle/$2.4 million revenue.
4) BetMGM: $12.5 million handle/$1.4 million revenue.
5) Barstool Sportsbook: $3 million handle/$316K revenue.
