Another month sees another increase in legal sports betting handle in Iowa, although the Hawkeye State fell short of its November 2021 figures.
The latest figures released by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission revealed that the state generated $247.5 million in sports betting wagers in November 2022.
That total is around a 3.7% increase on the $238.7 million handle reported in October's numbers, although the figures are lower year-over-year, seeing a dip of around $39.7 million from November 2021's figures — a 13.8% decrease.
For both retail sportsbooks and online sports betting sites, the Iowa sports betting revenue was reported to be $5.8 million, a whopping 70.1% decrease from the $19.4 million reported in October.
Iowa sportsbooks kept just 2.3% of the wagers they received, giving another single-digit month in hold percentage as well as the second monthly decrease in a row.
A total of $1.2 million was paid in taxes to the state across the 19 casinos and 19 mobile partners, compared with the $1.3 million paid out last month.
The "Mattress Mack" effect
Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale was the reason behind the brutally low revenue in the Hawkeye State this month, as McIngvale's legendary $75 million win on Houston Astros futures bets including taking $10 million from two Iowa-based sportsbook.
McIngvale bet $1 million each at Betfred and Unibet on the Astros to win the World Series at +500, and when Houston claimed the Fall Classic in early November, "Mattress Mack" claimed his massive winnings.
These losses were historic for the two sportsbooks, with Betfred reporting a loss of over $6 million and Unibet also reporting $6.3 million in net losses.
November’s biggest winners and losers
Online sportsbooks had a very mixed month across the state, with a number of sportsbooks posting considerable losses.
The biggest losers were, obviously, Unibet — who has since decided it will no longer operate in the state after the fourth quarter of 2022 — and Betfred, while three other operators posted losses: Bally Bet ($2.9K), Fubo Sportsbook ($1.7K), and the newest entrant into Iowa... the SuperBook ($751).
Of the fourteen online sportsbooks that registered profits in November, FanDuel had the highest revenue at $6.1 million, followed by DraftKings at $4.4 million — although DK brought in the biggest handle at $79.8 million (eclipsing FanDuel's $52.5 million).
