Iowa Sports Betting Continued to Slow Down in June

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission released its monthly sports wagering report to reveal that sports betting was not a hot topic for Iowans in June as numbers fell sharply down across the board.

Month-over-Month Decrease Continued

Combined, sportsbooks in the Hawkeye State accounted for $122.4 million in sports wagering handle to register a drop of 17.2 % as compared to the $147.9 million operators generated in May. The June total was the lowest since August 2021 but compared to June 2021, the month total posted around 10% growth.

Retail and mobile sports betting operators returned $115.9 million in payouts leaving them with around $6.6 million in sports wagering net receipts, falling below $7 million for the first time since October 2021. The net receipt figure was almost twice as low as May’s $12.6 million.

Operating margin in June was around 5.4%, much lower than the 8.5% of total wagered amounts sportsbooks retained in May, showing that June was relatively successful for sports bettors.

Online operations generated more than 90% of the total, $111.9 million, of which they paid $105.7 million to win bets retaining 5.6% of the total or $6.2 million in net wagering receipts.

Retail sportsbooks accounted for $10.5 million in sports betting handle and $10.2 million in payouts, retaining less than 3% of the total wagered amounts as net receipts, $340,552.

The Usual Suspects

Among operators, DraftKings was the one to generate the most in handle, $32.3 million, but FanDuel ended with more in net receipts, $1.92 million, generated from $30.6 million in handle. DraftKings experienced worse sports betting margin and retained $1.74 million despite the bigger handle.

Third-placed was Caesars Entertainment which accounted for $22.7 million in total wagers and ended up with $912,000 in net receipts.

In June, the state of Iowa received $447,000 in operator taxes to register the lowest month for the state in 2022 and a 48% decrease as compared to May. The Hawkeye State, unlike other states, does not designate for what purposes tax money will be used and rather keeps it in the general fund.

June will also be remembered as the last month of operation for theScore Bet after its parent Penn National Gaming decided to emphasize Barstool Sportsbook in the US and focus theScore Bet entirely on the Canadian market.