- Iowa mobile and internet sportsbooks have been seeing a rise in action with the latest comebacks of UFC and NASCAR to the sports world.
- Iowa took in half a million dollars in revenue for the month of May due to wagers placed on these sporting events.
- The odds are likely that both handle and revenue continue to increase before the spike from football season.
DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa has been hit hard by the Coronavirus Pandemic and their sports betting industry saw major losses due to the lack of sporting events taking place.
But things are beginning to look up once again as major league sports are slowly making their comeback.
From April to May, Iowa sportsbooks saw a jump in their sports betting handle by 344%.
April brought in $1.5 million in wagers placed while May saw $6.9 million worth of bets.
That is a major difference and it’s all thanks to bettors putting money on NASCAR and UFC events that have been revived from their COVID-19 hiatuses.
Outlook For Sports Betting In Iowa
Iowa is home to 19 casinos with retail sportsbook but Governor Kim Reynolds has yet to issue a statement on the reopening of these establishments.
Sports bettors have turned to legal mobile and internet platforms in the Hawkeye State when the news of these sports began to surface. Their bets are what led to the enormous jump in the handle and profited Iowa $501,000 for the month of May after having payouts worth $6.48 million for all the wagers placed as reported by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC).
The Hawkeye State launched its legal sports betting businesses in mid-August 2019.
In the last ten months, gamblers have bet $355.3 million on sports.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the suspension of sporting events, much of that number comes from football and basketball from both professional and collegiate levels in the Fall of 2019.
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But now that things are taking shape with the “new normal” Iowans now have sports to turn to and wager on once again.
Without sports betting, casino gaming in Iowa took in well over a billion dollars for the fiscal year in 2019.
Legal sports betting events could potentially bring in nearly half that.
If the seasons for sports were to be going on, as usual, it was estimated that May alone would’ve seen ten times the amount of money wagered on games. After payouts, the revenue from the various matchups with each sport on a monthly basis would be raking in millions for Iowa sportsbooks.
UFC and NASCAR as well as German soccer have been game-changers for Iowa sports bettors in May.
Of course, having access to online state-sanctioned sportsbooks helped as well.
But now all of the other top sports are in discussions on dates for their comebacks and the NFL is a definite go for their regularly scheduled season making the outlook for Iowa’s sports betting market very good.
The turnaround has already begun. As sports and sports bettors rise up, so will the revenue profits for the Hawkeye State in its comeback from this COVID-19 outbreak and its financial crisis.
Christina has been writing for different platforms for years. She has a particular interest in writing about any and all sports-related news. If there is a game on, she’s watching it. She has been writing for USAOnlineSportsbooks since 2019.
