It was a fiscal year to remember and a June to forget for sportsbooks in Iowa.
The Hawkeye State posted a handle of $122.437 million in June, down 17.2% from $147.913 million in May.
But the figure represented a 10.1% increase, year-over-year, from the $111.176 million the state raked in during June 2021.
As for the overall fiscal year (which ended on June 30), the state posted a total handle of $2.455 billion, which more than doubled Iowa’s $1.218 billion handle in 2021.
Iowa’s mobile sports betting handle ($2.211 billion) was up 125% year-over-year, from the $985.074 million the state took in the previous year.
As far as taxes are concerned, Iowa had $9.585 million distributed to its coffers in the most recent fiscal year, up 57.8% from the $6.072 million the year before.
Iowa Sports Betting, June vs. May
What Iowa’s Report Means for Missouri
The $2-plus billion Iowa raked in during the 2021-22 fiscal year portends great things for the hypothetical Missouri sports betting market.
But at the moment, hypothetical is the key word, as Missouri failed to pass a sports betting bill during the 2022 legislative session. HB 2502 made it through to the state senate before stalling out.
It seems certain Missouri, which has close to twice the population (6.1 million vs. 3.1 million) of Iowa, would be capable of achieving great things if it clears mobile and retail sports betting during the next legislative session.
We’ll have a better apples-to-apples comparison for Missouri’s sports betting market when Kansas’ scene goes live this fall, maybe in time to bet on the Kansas City Chiefs opening game of the season.
Nonetheless, it’s not hard to imagine a future where the Show Me State is posting nine-digit sports betting handles.
June Gloom in Full Effect for Iowa Sports Betting
Overall in June, the theme for Iowa’s online and retail sports betting scene was one of big declines — in keeping with national averages.
The state’s $122.437 million overall handle was down big from May, as was Iowa’s overall sports betting revenue ($5.568 million). The latter represented a 48% drop from May and a 22% decline from June 2021.
As far as June’s taxation was concerned, Iowa raked in $446,594 during the month, down 47.5% from May ($850,598) and 21.4% from June 2021 ($568,502).
When it comes to actual operators, DraftKings Sportsbook/Crown IA Gaming were the crown jewel of June, raking in $32.262 million in handle.
Chasing DraftKings were FanDuel Sportsbook/Betfair Interactive US ($30.567 million), Caesars Sportsbook/American Wagering Inc. ($22.696 million), BetMGM ($12.672 million), and Barstool Sportsbook/Penn National Gaming ($3.978 million).
It’s worth noting all 19 of the casinos in Iowa that take sports wagers have mobile sports betting in place.
