The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) recently published its revenue figures for March 2022, which included the hugely popular March Madness sports event. The Hawkeye State saw its sports betting handle surge by 44.7% year-on-year, totalling $233.5 million, up from $161.4 million in March 2021. This also represents an 8.2% month-on-month rise compared with February 2022, which saw $215.9 million wagered by state citizens.
March Madness is said to be the busiest month of the year for sports betting outside of the NFL season. Iowa’s sports betting handle for the month suggests that this was very much the case in the Hawkeye State. The state benefited immensely from some significant successes for the state’s schools and colleges during March Madness.
March Madness pricked the ears of sports bettors across Iowa
The state of Iowa is somewhat unique in that it does not have any major league sports teams operating within the Hawkeye State. Consequently, the college sports scene is arguably Iowa’s most fruitful market in terms of betting revenues. Wagering on in-state college teams is permitted, but there are no live betting markets available for any collegiate sports event, as per the terms of sports betting legalization in Iowa.
Both the men’s and women’s teams won the Big Ten Conference tournaments, earning immediate NCAA Tournament entries. Meanwhile Iowa State also made it as far as the Sweet 16 stage. All of which helped to build tremendous interest and enthusiasm for college sport across the state.
Sports betting on professional and college games is not the only legalized form of gaming action in the Hawkeye State. Iowa’s lawmakers also voted to permit daily fantasy sports betting, which allows players to hand-pick fantasy teams to enter daily, weekly and season-long competitions to try and win prizes. Players can enter new line-ups for every competition they enter, if they so wish. Ultimately, this subsector of Iowa’s sports betting industry caters for the fanatics that think they know the sport better than the analysts and coaches. With large, guaranteed prize pools for some of the biggest DFS tournaments, it’s easy to see why it’s made such a big impression on sports enthusiasts in Iowa.
Iowa’s sports betting handle in March 2022 – and beyond – by numbers
Approximately 89.1% of all sports bets in Iowa during March were submitted online. $208.3 million was wagered with regulated online sportsbooks, with the remaining $25.3 million spent with land-based retail sportsbooks throughout the state. This was still some way short of the state record of $303.3 million set in January of 2022.
In total, the state’s sports betting handle generated almost $1 billion in tax revenues to boost the economy.
In terms of outright revenue for the Iowa sports betting industry, March 2022 yielded the second-largest month since the legalization of the sector. $14.4 million was generated in combined sports betting revenue, compared with $13.5 million in March 2021. It’s still somewhat shy of November 2021’s $19.7 million revenue figure, but it demonstrates that this year’s March Madness was a bigger draw for sports fans in the Hawkeye State.
Iowa’s regulated sports betting industry currently boasts 19 retail sportsbooks and 18 online sportsbooks. Online sportsbooks are partnered with at least one of the state’s retail sportsbooks to obtain an operating license with the IRGC. March 2022 saw Dubuque’s Diamond Jo Casino rank as the most popular land-based sportsbook in the state. The Diamond Jo Casino raked in a handle of $48.8 million throughout the month, resulting in an eventual revenue of $3.9 million.
In fact, only one retail sportsbook in Iowa posted a losing month in March 2022. The Casino Queen Marquette, which licenses the online Fubo Sportsbook, reported a minor $3,635 monthly loss. The Betfair Sportsbook was the most successful of all the state’s online sportsbooks, raking in $3.7 million in revenue from its $47.5 million handle.
