Iowa’s Lifetime Sports Betting Handle Crosses the $1 Billion Mark

Even after slightly falling short of January’s performance, Iowa’s sports bettors in February spent just enough money to comfortably catapult the state past the billion-dollar mark in lifetime sports betting handle.

Per the latest report by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, in February, sports bettors in the Hawkeye State parted with a total of $143.6 million worth of wagers. This was nearly 6 million less or about 4% lower than the $149.5 million handle that was collected for January. Despite the slip, the volume of wagers in February was enough to push Iowa’s lifetime sports betting handle to a whopping $1.08 billion.  

Interestingly, if we look at the numbers closely, February’s numbers would have beaten January’s record had the month been having 31 days and not 28 days. That’s because the daily expenditure for sports betters on wagers was $5.1 million, a 6.25% increase compared to January’s daily average of $4.8 million. So, depending on the angle you approach the Jan vs Feb handle performance, the curves are pointing to two different directions. Well, whatever the case, the two months were critical for Iowa’s ten-figure breakthrough performance.

In an email correspondence to Sports Handle, Brian Ohorliko an IRGC Administrator expressed the gaming ombudsman’s enthusiasm over crossing the 10-figure milestone by saying;

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“The commission has been very pleased, to this point in time, with how the sports wagering industry has progressed in Iowa. The foundation of the Iowa sports wagering industry was the thoughtful legislation that has allowed for market growth in a highly regulated environment where customers can feel confident that their wagering activity is safe and operators are complying with Iowa’s sports’ wagering laws and rules. We are also extremely fortunate to have strong sports wagering operators licensed in this state that understand the importance of compliance and operate with integrity.”

Iowa Joins the Big Leagues Thanks to One Significant Change in State Law

By hitting the tremendous milestone, Iowa has officially secured its place on the record books as the seventh state to collect a lifetime handle of over $1 billion since the PASPA was repealed in May 2018. It has taken the Hawkeye state a total of 19 months to surpass get to achieve the ten-figure handle since launching a regulated sports betting market back in August 2019.

Now, Iowa has joined the ranks of New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Indiana, and Illinois as the only states to have collected more than $1 billion from wagers in the post-PASPA era. Thus, even though February’s performance ended the record-shattering streak of besting its own monthly handle for five months back-to-back, it did so on a historic note.

Iowa has to thank online mobile sports betting for this triumph particularly since the in-person registration clause for the state’s gaming law expired at the start of the year. Before remote registration was allowed in the Hawkeye State, the share of online mobile sports betting never went past 75% of the overall monthly handles since launch. The only time it happened was of course in the months when there were forced Coronavirus shutdowns for land-based sports betting facilities.

In December for instance, another breakthrough month for the state when it first recorded a monthly handle of over $100 million, only 75% of the wagers were placed online and via mobile devices. But then, after the remote registration requirement was scrapped off, online and mobile sports betting has been accounting for over 80% of the monthly handle. Looking at January’s and February’s numbers, 84% of the $293 million that was spent on wagers for the two months came from online and mobile betting.

Big Hopes for The Future of Iowa’s Sports Betting Industry

Given that the Iowa sports betting market has opened up more after remote registration was okayed, industry observers are pretty excited about the performance of the sports betting sector in the coming month, and 2021 as a whole.

Remote registrations aside, the sports calendar this year is packed with lucrative opportunities for operators and sports bettors alike. Unlike last year, there’s no mass cancellation of sports events as the state and the country at large is getting a handle on the Coronavirus with vaccination ongoing. Could this mean that Iowa will join states like Colorado by bringing in an annual handle of over $1 billion for 2021? Well, given the impressive start for the first two months of the year, there’s a good chance for the Hawkeye State to get there should it continue with the same pace – but ultimately, only time will tell.

In another correspondence with the Sports Handle media team via test message, Wes Ehrcke, the president of Iowa Gaming Association President Wes Ehrecke stated his optimism for the future of sports betting in the state as follows;

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“It is an exciting milestone to reach $1 billion total handle wagered since inception … and the 3rd consecutive $100+ million month! With the casino sportsbooks offering remote registration and online access; it has created more options for those who love watching and wagering on sporting events! We had no March Madness last year due to COVID shutdown; so it will be great to watch the level of interest this month for comparison.”

For the 19 months that sports betting has been legal in Iowa, sportsbook operators have generated about $80 million in revenue whereas the state has won about $5.5 million for its tax coffers from the regulated market.