How Iowa Sports Betting Revenue Breaks Records – Millions in the Game

By: Anna

Posted: February 26, 2021

Updated: February 26, 2021

Iowa was the 11th state to legalize sports betting
They made online gambling easier from January 2021
Here is how Iowa Sports Betting Revenue Breaks Records

Image source: Jared Winkler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Until May 14, 2018 sports betting was illegal in the US. But then the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the federal ban on sports betting. Ever since then more and more states are legalizing this type of gambling. The firsts were for example New York, New Jersey, and Nevada. On August 15, 2019, Iowa became the 11thstate, and the first in the upper Midwest to allow legal sports betting. Now it looks like it was a pretty great idea: see how Iowa sports betting revenue breaks records. When the first legal bets started to go down in the Hawkeye State, gamblers were tied to special requirements. First, all of them had to go into a licensed, physically existing casino sportsbook to register, and then they could participate through an online application. But these times had come to an end with 2021. From 1 January this year, in-person registration is no longer a must. Anyone can register safely from home, on their mobile or computer. It makes the lives of online casino sites in the US – like Ignition Casino –, in Iowa much easier. It is also easier to understand how Iowa sports betting revenue breaks records this year.

Why and how Iowa sports betting revenue breaks records

All the online gambling sites in the US are living their golden ages. With people spending more time at home, they have more free time on their hands. Also, more people choose to gamble from the safety of their homes, instead of the casinos – though many of those are still closed. It became even more obvious right before this year’s Super Bowl game when a record number of gamblers placed their bets online. Another thing is the above-mentioned change in the way of registering. Since people can do it easily online, more of them are willing to. According to "gamingamerica" players placed more than 80% of bets online in January. In December it was 74.5%.

It is amazing how Iowa sports betting revenue breaks records – We are talking millions

Gamingamerica.com also shared the numbers of online sportsbooks from the first month of the year. As reported by them, Iowa sportsbook took in 150 million dollars only from sports bets in January. It is a huge, 42.7% leap compared to December. The net revenue shows a 50.5% increase with 11.3 million dollars. Dustin Gouker, the lead analyst for Play Iowa agrees on the above-mentioned factors that played their part in the growth. “January was the just first test of an unshackled market, but it didn’t take long to realize just how much Iowa’s sportsbooks have been held back by the state’s in-person registration requirements.”

What is next?

Gouker also spoke about the future: “These will be an exciting next few months in the market, with some of the biggest sports-betting holidays (…) buoying what should be rapid expansion. This is a whole new era in Iowa sports betting.” So, it looks like that this first month was just the beginning. All the online gambling sites in the US, like Ignition Casino, can benefit from these times. Of course, for the state of Iowa, there is even more to look forward to, since – as you could see above – they have more changes going on. Let us see, how Iowa sports betting revenue breaks records again and again in the next couple of months!