Iowa Sports Betting Sees an Average of $11 Million On the Line Per Day
The great state of Iowa knows no bounds, according to numbers recently published regarding the past fiscal year of Iowa sports betting. These numbers state that sports bettors in Iowa are putting down around $11 million every day. In the past year, the state has already surpassed a total handle of $4 billion.
Quite a few states have seen a handle of $4 billion this year already, but when considering state populations, Iowa seems to be an outlier. These numbers combine sports games and casino, as well as online and in person betting. Even so, $11 million per day is quite the total. Iowa seems to have a betting culture, and the sports betting industry within the state definitely isn’t complaining.
Iowa has 19 different casinos throughout the state, and these casinos made $1.78 billion from in-person betting, such as betting on slot machines and traditional table games. The rest of Iowa’s betting industry over the past year was made up of sports wagers. Around $2.4 million was put down on sports betting over the past fiscal year, Iowa’s handle one of the highest in the industry.
This was the highest year for general betting in the state of Iowa, and the state saw a fairly large surge in gambling after casinos began to open up again after the COVID-19 pandemic. This greatly improved the in-person betting numbers throughout the state.
More on Iowa Sports Betting Numbers
According to the Iowa Gaming Association, there was an increased attendance rate of 6.5% from last fiscal year to this fiscal year. Gambling rates had been dropping in Iowa, so this came as a surprise to many. 2012, however, had the highest number of casino admissions in the state’s history of gambling, with 22.8 million people coming into casinos to gamble.
This year, 17.4 million people attended Iowa casinos. Many people believe that the increased attendance, compared to the attendance of years before, was greatly due to so many people being cooped up in their homes during the pandemic. Even if these people didn’t go to casinos before, the ability to do so after being isolated for so long caused many to try it out.
The state made quite a bit of money as well. According to the numbers published, Iowa brought home $349 million in taxes over the past fiscal year on gambling in general. $9.6 million of that was from sports betting taxes. However, economists aren’t sure that this will continue.
Read more about Iowa sports betting.
A Changing Industry
Even with great numbers, Iowa should be on the lookout for a downward slope. In fact, numbers are already beginning to drop. In most states, betting is at a low for the year, as many sports are out of season, and Iowa is no different. But there is another more concerning reason that the country is seeing lower handles.
The increase in gas prices, rent, groceries, and the average cost of living in general, is rising at an alarming rate, and this is likely to affect sports betting handles. Iowa is definitely not immune to this, as numbers for the state dropped in the last quarter of the fiscal year. Even so, the state’s sports betting numbers are still looking fairly good, and things may change for the better with time.
