Iowa Sports Betting Slows Down
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has announced the October sports betting report, and it was a bit of a mixed result. Total sports betting handle for the month was $238.8 million, but sportsbooks had a tough time beating the bettors.
Mobile betting continues to see the most action in the state of Iowa as that total handle was $212.8 million. Iowa has continued to see a rise in sports betting action over the last two months, but the numbers are down compared to October 2021 totals.
Sportsbooks won just eight percent of the wagers during the month of October, and that was a pretty significant decrease. States all throughout the country had been posting hold rates of over 10% since August, and this kept the total revenue down in Iowa.
DraftKings Sportsbook had a record-setting month in October though as the total handle was $78.4 million. FanDuel was next on the list with $50.1 million in total handle and it was also a record for that operator.
Iowa has a very low tax rate on sports betting revenue as the 6.75% rate is much lower than other states. The state was still able to collect $1.3 million in October, but the low win rate hurt the overall total.
Bettors Leaving the Industry?
While the low win rate is not something that can really be fixed in Iowa, there was one part of this report that was even more concerning. Looking at the year-over-year numbers in Iowa, sports betting handle has actually declined over the past 12 months.
Total sports betting handle a year ago was over $280 million, and that was part of a nationwide trend. Other states have seen some disappointing year-over-year numbers in recent months, and that could end up just being the norm.
SuperBook In, Unibet Out
It’s been a strange 2022 year when it comes to sports betting in Iowa as there has been plenty of movement from sportsbooks. November 1 saw the launch of SuperBook Sports, but Unibet Sportsbook just recently announced that it was leaving the market for good.
SuperBook Sports has seen plenty of growth over the last few years as Iowa is now the sixth state where it has been able to launch. Once SuperBook went live on November 1, it became the 19th online sports betting operator to launch in the state.
Unibet Sportsbook is still active in Iowa, but it has plans to leave the state by the end of 2022. Unibet joins Fubo Sportsbook as the second online sportsbook to leave the state to announce plans to leave the state this year, and it’s simply due to lack of financial opportunity.
This won’t have a huge impact on the overall numbers in Iowa, but it will give bettors one less option to choose from.
