Harvest season came early for Iowa sportsbooks, which claimed more than $14.4 million in sports wagering revenue in August, according to figures released Friday by the state’s Racing and Gaming Commission.
It was the second-highest revenue total in 37 months of wagering in the Hawkeye State, trailing only the $19.7 million generated last November. It is the third time this year, however, the house has topped $14 million, also doing so in January and March.
Revenue climbed 29% compared to July’s $11.2 million as operators posted back-to-back win rates above 10% for the first time since the first three months of operation following launch in August 2019. The 11.8% hold was the fourth highest overall, trailing only those first three months of business.
Handle increased 12.9% from July to $122.6 million, narrowly eclipsing June’s total. It was also a 13.1% increase compared to August of last year — but revenue more than doubled versus 2021 as this year’s win rate was nearly six percentage points higher.
The state collected $970,000 in tax receipts, lifting the total to $6.4 million for the calendar year. That is $1.7 million ahead of last year’s pace. Year-to-date revenue is 37.9% higher, at $94.4 million from $1.4 billion wagered.
The Big Three do big business
August #SportsBeting numbers for #Iowa via the IRGC, a 🧵. Mobile Han/Rev/WR by operator (2/6)@QSportsbook $127.5K/$9292/7.29%@HardRockSB $413.9K/$43.1K/10.41%@DKSportsbook ~$33.2M/$3.47M/10.46%
5/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 9, 2022
The top three mobile options in the Hawkeye State — DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars Sportsbook — all posted double-digit win rates, the first time that has occurred since October 2020, when FanDuel was in its second month of operation. DraftKings pulled off the double for the first time doing business in Iowa, accepting $33.2 million in bets and claiming $3.5 million revenue for a 10.5% hold.
FanDuel posted a 10.9% win rate as it kept $3.2 million of the $29.3 million wagered, while Caesars’ 10.7% hold was its best since an 11.6% mark in October 2020 as it claimed $2.4 million in revenue from $22.1 million handle. BetMGM was the only other book to achieve an eight-figure handle with $12.5 million, and also delivered a double-digit hold at 11.4% to generate $1.4 million in revenue.
The 10.6% overall mobile hold was the third highest all-time behind the 11.6% from the launch month of August 2019 on only $3.6 million handle and the 11.2% from October 2020 on $56.9 million. The $110.1 million mobile handle for this August accounted for 89.8% of the overall handle.
Brick-and-mortar bonanza
August #SportsBeting numbers for #Iowa via the IRGC, a 🧵. Mobile vs retail Han/Rev/WR
Mobile: $110.11M/$11.71M/10.63%
Retail: $12.46M/$2.71M/21.75% 👀-Highest retail WR recorded outside Aug. '19 launch (35.16%).
3/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 9, 2022
As impressively as mobile operators performed, their win rates paled in comparison to Iowa’s 19 brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. Those retail books combined for a staggering 21.8% hold on $12.5 million handle, generating $2.7 million in revenue. The retail win rate was the highest recorded outside the August 2019 debut, when the in-person hold was 35.2% from $4.9 million wagered.
The $2.7 million in retail revenue is a high for the calendar year and the most since the books claimed $2.9 million last November. Handle that month, though, was more than double this August’s at $26.9 million. The overall retail win rate for the year is just under 8%.
Nine books finished with a hold above 20%, with three topping 30%. Lakeside Casino led all books with a 48.8% win rate, keeping $72,450 of $148,380 wagered and marking the second time outside the initial month of wagering any retail book in Iowa eclipsed a 40% hold with a minimum $100,000 handle. Wild Rose Casino’s sportsbook in Emmetsburg had a 49.1% win rate in June 2021, claiming $59,375 in revenue from $121,009 in handle.
Casino Queen was on the opposite end of the spectrum. In addition to being the only retail book with a hold below 10%, it actually finished with a loss of $18,126 on $107,369 wagered for a negative-16.9% win rate. The last casino in Iowa to open a retail sportsbook, the Marquette venue came out just $3,465 ahead on $302,012 handle for its first 12 months of wagering — good for a 1.2% hold.
