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Iowa Gambling Revenue Drops Over 33% In April

Commercial Gaming Iowa News
Written By Nicholaus Garcia on May 16, 2023
April 2023 gambling revenue for Iowa
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As with other sports betting jurisdictions in the US, April hasn’t been kind to gaming operators, even in Iowa. In April, Iowa sports betting revenue was $14.1 million, down 28.8% from the $19.8 million in March. 

According to data from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, total sports betting handle stood at $172.6 million, down 25.8% from March’s $232.6 million.

Although the drop in revenue wasn’t unexpected, considering the NCAA Basketball tournaments heavily boosted March numbers, Hawkeye State still felt the sting. 

Iowa casinos experience a revenue dip in April

Although brick-and-mortar casinos also experienced a decrease in April, the dip wasn’t as severe as sports betting. The 19 Iowa casinos generated $153 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), down 4.4% from the $159 million reported in March. 

For the month, Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino took the top spot with $21 million in AGR dethroning last month’s top earner Horseshoe Casi
no Council Bluffs.

As with March, the biggest casino revenue generator continues to be slot machines.

Iowa casino numbers in April 2023:

  • Slot machine revenue – $137,524,034
  • Table game revenue – $15,362,075
  • State tax revenue – $30,496,502

Iowa casino numbers in March:

  • $143,490,219 – slot machine revenue
  • $16,420,090 – table game revenue
  • $31,937,713 – state tax revenue

Iowa casinos generated over $30,000 in state taxes, $743,426 in city and county taxes and $1,189,481 to the state endowment fund.

The expected April slump for sports gambling

Of the 18 Iowa sportsbooks, DraftKings was the top option with $55.8 million in handle and $5.6 million in revenue. 

The FanDuel Sportsbook came in second with $41.9 million in handle and $5 million in revenue. Combined, the two sportsbooks made up roughly 75% of the state’s profits, up 59% from March.

Online sports betting in Iowa continues to be the preferred method for placing bets. In April, less than 9% of bets in Iowa were placed in person.

Iowa sports betting revenue for April 2023:

  • DraftKings – $5.6 million
  • FanDuel – $5 million
  • Caesars – $1.5 million
  • BetMGM – $1.3 million
  • PointsBet – $341,938
  • BetRivers – $231,699

As for tax revenue, Iowa collected $958,605 in sports betting tax revenue, down slightly from the $1.29 million collected in March. 

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Nicholaus Garcia

Nick Garcia is a senior reporter for Playin USA. Garcia provides analysis and in-depth coverage of the gambling industry with a key focus on online casinos, sports betting and financial markets. Garcia has been covering the US gambling market since 2017. He attended Texas Tech University as an undergrad and received a Master of Arts in Journalism from Columbia College Chicago.

View all posts by Nicholaus Garcia

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