TheScore Bet Sportsbook put in a last call to Iowa customers.
The app’s last bets have to be placed before June 15. The US version of theScore Bet app disappears July 1. Parent company Penn National Gaming wants you to pull up a Barstool instead.
Penn updated its customers about the change in a June 1 email. Simply put, theScore and its betting app are strong brands in Ontario, Canada. But, Barstool Sportsbook is Penn’s horse to ride in the US.
The company will help customers close out their accounts. Iowa bettors won’t be alone, by the way. TheScore Bet is pulling out of Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey as well.
All four states offer Barstool Sportsbook as an alternative. As the break-up email explains:
“Barstool Sportsbook offers many of the same features as theScore Bet, including odds boosts and promotions across a variety of markets.”
Dates to know for bets and cashouts
- Starting June 15, the US version of theScore Bet won’t accept bets.
- From then on, the app will only allow withdrawl transactions.
- Starting June 16, theScore Bet says it will help its Iowa customers with the close-out process. Those customers should have a preferred method like direct deposit on file. The company will send physical checks to customers who don’t have direct deposit or other withdrawal methods.
- TheScoreBet then discontinues US operations on Friday, July 1.
TheScore Bet languished in Iowa
TheScore Bet has an operating contract with Ameristar Casino but Barstool is the dominant brand at the Council Bluffs casino. According to April 2022 numbers from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC), theScore Bet suffered a $2,428 loss in revenue.
The book collected about $268,749 in April bets, but had to pay out $271,178 in wins. Only Q Sportsbook (No. 18), Fubo (17), Betway (16) and Betfred (No.15) had smaller handles.
Iowa customers didn’t have access to a browser version of the sportsbook for desktops or laptops, either. Bettors in the Hawkeye State had to download theScore Bet app.
Penn National Gaming’s other brand is doing better in Iowa. At $5.56 million, Barstool held the fifth-place position in April.
Even if all of theScore Bet’s wagers follow Penn National Gaming’s roadmap to Barstool, it won’t approach fourth-place BetMGM’s $21 million pace in Iowa.
In fact, the Iowa sportsbook market is a story of haves and have-nots at the moment. Using April 2022 numbers from the IRGC:
- The top four sportsbooks in Iowa (DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel and BetMGM) accepted 80.4% of Iowa’s betting dollars.
- Four more sportsbooks (Barstool, BetRivers, PointsBet and Elite) each took in more than $1 million in April bets. But that combines for just 8.1% share of the Iowa market.
- That left 10 sportsbooks scrambling for the remaining 11.5% of the market.
