Iowa sports betting handle reaches $100m in December

Analysts predict the market will continue to grow throughout 2021 since legislators have scrapped in-person registration.

US.- Iowa’s sports betting handle has broken state records for the fourth month in a row with more than $100m of wagers made in December.

According to figures released by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC), the state generated a handle of $104.8m last month, breaking the previous record set in November.

Nearly $78.1m of the wagers were placed online. Analysts predict that online gambling will push monthly handles even higher in 2021 since legislators have scrapped the state’s requirement for in-person sports betting registration.

In December, sportsbooks made revenues of $7.54m after paying out $97.3m to bettors.

IRGC administrator Brian Ohorilko said: “This is our highest month since we started back in 2019, and it was the first time we surpassed $100 million in handle.

“I did anticipate that we would eventually get there, but I think this is maybe a bit earlier than I thought.”