In August, Iowa’s sports betting numbers improved significantly as it officially signals the end of the summer slowdown. On Friday, the state’s Racing and Gaming Commission released the figures as sportsbook operators combined to bring in a handle of $122.6 million.
Sports Betting Makes a Huge Comeback in the Hawkeye State
The monthly handle increased for the first time in five months as the lack of sporting events took its toll across the industry. August’s handle registered an increase of 12.9 percent from July’s $122.6 million.
When comparing the year-over-year figures, August 2022’s handle noted an increase of 13.1 percent from August 2021. In July, the only major sport that was in operation was the MLB, but baseball doesn’t generate as much interest as compared to leagues like the NFL and NBA.
Sportsbook operators that conduct business all across the industry are already gearing up for Sunday as a full slate of games will be taking place. The overall numbers in August were pushing higher totals as the monthly handles factored in NFL preseason wagering.
Revenue Numbers Also Jumped Significantly
As of right now, there are 19 casinos that have partnerships with sportsbooks, as these gaming facilities contributed in a big way. Sports betting revenue in the Hawkeye State was higher by 29.7 percent as the figures went from $11.1 million to $14.4 million in a month.
After launching in August 2019, operators posted back-to-back win rates above the 10 percent threshold for the first time since the first three months of operation. In August, bookmakers combined to register an average hold rate of 11.8 percent.
July’s hold rate was slated at 10.2 percent, while June’s hold rate was only able to hit 5.3 percent. In the Hawkeye State, it was the second-highest revenue total in 37 months, behind only November 2021’s $19.7 million.
The two other times operators were able to generate above $14 million in revenue in a given month were done so in January and March. March was the last strong month due to the March Madness Tournament. With all that being said, the state was able to collect $970,000 in taxes for the month.
How Did the Individual Bookmakers Do?
Mobile sports betting accounted for 89.8 percent of the overall handle and 81.2 percent of the revenue.
DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars all posted double-digit win rates for the month as well since October 2020.
FanDuel had a win rate of 10.9 percent, which led to $3.2 million in revenue. Caesars had a hold rate of 10.7 percent and claimed $2.4 million in revenue. BetMGM had a hold percentage of 11.4 percent, which generated $1.4 million in revenue.
The mobile bookmakers did well, but their retail counterparts had top-notch numbers as well. These in-person locations combined for a win rate of 21.8 percent and generated $2.7 million in revenue. The overall handle numbers should get higher in Iowa as the state enters the last quarter of the year.
