Starting at 12 noon on Thursday, August 15, eight sportsbooks in Iowa casinos began taking the state’s first legal sports bets. Seven of those eight casinos are eventually expected to offer mobile wagering. The first eight sportsbooks are located at:
- Prairie Meadows
- Lakeside
- Isle Waterloo
- Isle Bettendorf
- Rhythm City
- Riverside
- Ameristar Council Bluffs
- Catfish Bend
Brian Ohorilko, administrator for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, told Legal Sports Report that the rest of the 18 casinos that applied for sports betting licenses should be operational by NFL season starting September 5.
According the PlayIA.com, Iowa could compare with Nevada in sports betting revenue.
“Once the Iowa market reaches maturity, its potential is on par with what Nevada is today,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayIA.com and a veteran observer of the legal sports betting markets across the U.S. “That means a handle that will exceed $4 billion a year, and perhaps approach $5 billion. And as we have seen with the success of the early adopters of legal sports betting, such as New Jersey, the state should reap millions in tax revenue.”
PlayIA.com believes Iowa has much potential.
- It will take Iowa five years or more to reach full maturity. But once it does, the state’s handle should eclipse $4 billion and even approach $5 billion. Those estimates are based in part on the handle that Nevada generates with a population that is similar in size to Iowa.
- If Iowa reaches its full potential as a market, operators could generate more than $300 million a year in revenue, or “win” in gaming parlance.
- With a tax rate of 6.75 percent, Iowa would generate more than $20 million a year in tax revenue if the win reaches $300 million a year.
In related news, a legislative panel voted last week to delay a portion of the new Iowa sports betting rules that would allow the state to collect some winnings of gamblers who owe child support, back taxes or criminal debt.
The regulations for sports betting in Iowa authorized casinos to request the Social Security numbers of sports bettors once they win $1,200 and then check the names of those winners against a database of people who are delinquent in their child support payments or back taxes or owe criminal fines.
Federal guidelines differ, and only require casinos to ask for the Social Security number of a sports bettor who has won $600 or more, if the amount is at least 300 times the wager.
Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, said the casinos will propose a bill in 2020 that aligns the amounts with federal tax requirements and will likely add table games, such as blackjack and roulette, so debts could be collected on more gambling earnings.
“Come next session we’ll bring forth a bill hopefully that will have bipartisan support for to clarify that to the federal guidelines,” Ehrecke said.
