Iowa Boasts Strong Sports Betting Revenue For January

Written By T.J. McBride on February 15, 2023
January 2023 sports betting revenue for Iowa

January revenue reports for online and retail sports betting in Iowa are in and ready to be analyzed by PlayIA.comIn total, retail and online sportsbooks combined to rake in a total of over $233 million in bets.

Before we dive into the numbers themselves, it’s important to outline the casinos and online sportsbooks that generated the revenue being discussed. There are 19 casinos and 18 digital sportsbooks involved with sports betting in Iowa. That makes in total 37 separate places where sports betting revenue can be generated.

We’ll dive into those numbers now and see what type of revenue Iowa brought in via sports betting for January.

Online sports betting beats out retail, generates over $207 million in handle

Those 37 sports betting outlets combined to bring in $233,619,612.38 in total sports bets, also known as the handle.

The 19 casinos which have their retail sportsbooks brought in a retail sports betting handle of nearly $26 million. But that number is quite a small sum when comparing it to the gargantuan amount generated from online sports betting.

The 18 digital sportsbooks brought in a staggering $207,674,195.62 in online sports betting handle. That makes the internet sports betting handle just over eight times higher than the retail sports betting handle.

When looking at the numbers, it is as clear as day. Online sports betting dramatically outpaces retail sports betting in every meaningful category in the state of Iowa.

When combining both retail and digital sports betting, Iowa received just over $1 million in state tax as well. That $1,081,365.28 will now go back into the state that houses these establishments.

Casino sports betting revenue breakdown

19 casinos offer retail or online sports gambling in some form:

  1. Ameristar Casino and Hotel Council Bluffs in Council Bluffs
  2. Casino Queen – Marquette in Marquette
  3. Catfish Bend Hotel and Casino in Burlington
  4. Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque in Dubuque
  5. Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood
  6. Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort in Larchwood
  7. Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sioux City in Sioux City
  8. Harrah’s Council Bluff Hotel and Casino in Council Bluffs
  9. Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel in Council Bluffs
  10. Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo in Waterloo
  11. Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel Bettendorf in Bettendorf
  12. Lakeside Hotel and Casino in Osceola
  13. Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, and Hotel in Altoona
  14. Q Casino in Dubuque
  15. Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport
  16. Wild Rose Casino and Hotel in Jefferson
  17. Riverside Golf and Casino Resort in Riverside
  18. Wild Rose Casino and Hotel in Clinton
  19. Wild Rose Casino and Hotel in Emmetsburg 

Even though there are 19 different locations for sports betting revenue to be gained, there were a few that stood out from the pack. Here are the five casinos that generated the most revenue in January.

The casino with the highest retail sports betting handle was Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood, Iowa with just under $8.3 million. The casino with the second highest retail sports betting handle was Ameristar Casino and Hotel Council Bluffs with just over $5 million.

In third place was Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel with $3.86 million. The fourth highest retail sports betting handle was Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, and Hotel in Altoona, Iowa with $1.16 million.

Lastly, Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque came in with just under $1 million in sports betting handle.

The five most utilized digital sportsbooks by revenue generated in January

In addition to those 19 retail sportsbooks, there are another 18 digital sportsbooks:

  1.     American Wagering Inc.
  2.     Betfair Interactive US LLC
  3.     Betfred Sports (Iowa) LLC
  4.     BetMGM, LLC
  5.     BlueBet Iowa LLC
  6.     Circa Sports Iowa LLC
  7.     Crown IA Gaming, LLC 
  8.     Digital Gaming Corporation USA
  9.     Dubuque Racing Association, Ltd.
  10.     Elite Hospitality Group, LLC
  11.     Penn Sports Interactive, LLC.
  12.     PointsBet Iowa, LLC
  13.     Rush Street Interactive IA, LLC
  14.     SBOpco, LLC
  15.     SCE Partners, LLC
  16.     Sports Information Group, LLC
  17.     Tipico Iowa, LLC
  18.     Twin River Management Group, Inc.

The digital sportsbook with the highest online sports betting handle was Crown IA Gaming (DraftKings) with just barely under $72.9 million; nearly triple the entire state’s retail sports betting handle of nearly $26 million.

In second place was Betfair Interactive (FanDuel) with just over $54.8 million online betting handle. The third-highest online sports betting handle came from American Wagering (Caesars) with just over $35.5 million.

The digital sportsbook with the fourth highest online sports betting handle was BetMGM with nearly $17.2 million. Lastly, the fifth highest internet sports betting handle came from Penn Sports Interactive with just over $7 million.

In total, it was a strong month at many of the casinos and digital sportsbooks across Iowa according to the January revenue report.

Photo by PlayIA
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T.J. McBride

T.J. McBride is a Denver-based NBA and Denver Nuggets reporter and a regular contributor to regularly at MileHighSports.com. He brings his in-depth sports and sports betting knowledge to his coverage of the legal gambling industry across regional sites at Catena Media.

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