Iowa Sees Huge Sports Betting Revenue Boost From March Madness

Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes reacts. — Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes reacts during a game against the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images via AFP.

Iowa saw a significant increase in sports betting during the annual March Madness event, resulting in a positive impact on the state.

The Hawkeyes made it to the women’s NCAA basketball final thanks to Caitlin Clark’s impressive performance, while two Iowa teams qualified for the men’s NCAA Tournament. As a result, the state’s sports betting handle and revenue numbers experienced double-digit month-over-month growth.

The recent increase in Iowa sports betting was a much-needed improvement for the industry, as it has been lagging behind last year’s numbers. The total sports betting figures for January, February, and March were 12.3% lower than the same period in 2022, dampening the overall success of legal sports betting in Iowa.

However, Iowa sportsbooks and the tax revenue generated from the industry will be able to celebrate a successful March reporting period, before the anticipated annual decline in spring sports betting activity across the country.

Iowa’s March sports betting handle

In March, Iowa’s 18 licensed mobile sportsbooks saw a 16.7% increase in bets, totaling $232.6 million wagered compared to February.

Even though there were positive numbers, Iowa’s sports betting activity experienced a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In March 2022, just over $233.5 million was wagered in the state, representing a modest 0.4% increase from the previous month. While the figures for 2023 are not alarming, they indicate a decline that Iowa regulators had been aiming to prevent before the summer lull.

Revenues tell a different story

The most significant development from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s March sports betting report was the substantial increase in revenues compared to the previous month, resulting in higher tax contributions to the state from betting providers.

In March, sports betting revenues for Iowa’s providers totaled nearly $20 million, marking a significant 67.3% increase from the $11.9 million earned by the top sportsbooks in February. This surge can be credited to both an increase in the handle and the state’s hold rate, which rose from 6.1% in February to 8.5% in March.

In March 2022, Iowa’s sportsbooks earned $14.4 million, a decrease of $5.5 million compared to the previous month.

This resulted in the state collecting $1.29 million in taxes from the legal sports betting sector, marking a significant 64% increase from the previous month’s figures.

DraftKings reign supreme in Iowa

In March, the majority of Iowa’s 18 sports betting operators were profitable, with only one reporting a loss. DraftKings emerged as the clear leader, generating $80 million in bets out of Iowa’s total $232.6 million handle for the month.

FanDuel came in second place with $53.7 million, followed by Caesars with $35.6 million. BetMGM in Iowa brought in $14.6 million, and Barstool placed fifth with $6.5 million in handle.

Written By:
Perry Sandra

Perry Sandra and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by “odds”. Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn’t found a sport yet that can’t contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.