Iowa sports betting revenue up 97% year-on-year in August

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has reported $14.4m in sports wagering revenue for August.

US.- The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has reported sports betting revenue of $14.4m for August. That’s an increase of 97.3 per cent year-on-year and 28.6 per cent from July of this year. Online sports betting generated $11.7m in revenue and retail $2.7m.

Sports betting generated a handle of $122.6m, a 12.9 per cent increase from July and the highest total since the $233.5m worth of wagers reported in March. Consumers spent $110.1m betting online and $12.5m at retail facilities.

Diamond Jo in Dubuque, partner with FanDuel, led the charts in terms of both revenue and handle. The operator posted $3.3m in revenue from $29.7m in player wagers during the month. Diamond Jo in Worth, which also has a FanDuel sportsbook, followed with $2.2m in revenue and a $16.4m handle. Wild Rose in Jefferson with DraftKings reported revenue of $1.7m from $17.2m in bets.

See also: BlueBet launches in Iowa

Iowa regulator fines sportsbooks

American Wagering, which does business as Caesars Sportsbook, has been fined by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for illegally allowing the use of credit cards on its site. The regulator issued a $60,000 penalty.

According to Iowa Racing and Gaming administrator Brian Ohorilko, the penalty was for a specific incident in July of 2021. He said: “It was discovered that there were a number of transactions that took place using a credit card. And so it was discovered at that time, a full audit was completed.”

There were a total of 485 transactions worth $212,000, which Ohorilko said the Racing and Gaming Commission said it felt was egregious. 

At the last commission meeting, a $75,000 penalty was levied against FanDuel for a two-count violation. Ohorilko suggested there would be more penalties issued at future meetings and said the issue was “important for the sportsbooks to get a handle on.”