Two northwest Iowa casinos—Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City and Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Lyon County—recently announced plans to create sportsbooks, following Governor Kim Reynolds’ approval of a bill legalizing wagers on professional and collegiate sports.
Hard Rock officials said their $895,000 project could take two months to complete. It includes remodeling 400 square feet of the casino’s high-stakes betting and wine bar area, which currently covers 8,000 square feet. The space currently has 60 slot machines, two blackjack tables and a private lounge. The new sportsbook will offer four betting windows and will be staffed by three salaried and nine hourly employees, according to documents submitted to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
Opened in 2011, Grand Falls’ $8 million expansion will include a sportsbook and 60 new hotel rooms, bringing the total to 160. Officials said work will begin immediately on converting the existing show lounge into the sportsbook. Live performances will move to a new space next to the Center Bar on the casino floor. The hotel expansion will begin in August.
A 5-minute drive from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Grand Falls will attract South Dakotans and other out-of-state bettors who can wager using mobile phone apps after establishing an account in person.
Elite Casino Resorts LLC, owner of Grand Falls, will ask the IRGC to approve Betworks LLC as its sportsbook provider for Grand Falls, as well as two other casinos it owns in Iowa, Riverside Casino & Golf Resort and Rhythm City Casino Resort.
Any changes to the state’s 19 casinos must be approved by the IRGC, as well as any contracts they sign with vendors. The IRGC is expected to finalize sports betting rules by July or August.
Besides sports betting, Iowa’s new gambling law legalizes daily fantasy sports sites like DraftKings and FanDuel. It does not allow prop bets on in-state college teams.
