The Hawkeye State has seen a consistent weakening of its legal sports betting market in 2023, with May marking yet another month its handle has fallen short compared to the previous year.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported the state took in $147.7 million in bets last month, a 14% drop from April’s $172.5 million. YoY saw little change as May 2023 saw roughly $200,000 less in bets than 2022.
However, it wasn’t all bad news. Sportsbooks netted $16.6 million in net receipts, a slight jump from the $14.1 million in April.
While bettors not surprisingly made the majority of their wagers on sports betting sites, the retail market saw a slight increase in its share of bets, now at 9.2%. On top of that, the brick-and-mortar locations were more successful for the operators, where they kept 13% of their handle.
DraftKings stays king
After six sportsbooks reported a loss in April, just three did so in May. With that said, sports betting in Iowa (which has 18 operators) is still dominated by the top four books.
DraftKings remained the Hawkeye State's most popular sportsbook, with a $49 million handle and $5.4 million in revenue. FanDuel was second with $36 million in bets and $4.5 million in revenue, but their combined revenue share dipped to 60% compared to 75% a month earlier.
Handle-wise, Caesars came in third with $21.2 million, followed by BetMGM with $14.6 million. After that came Barstool Sportsbook ($3.4 million), BetRivers ($2.8 million), and PointsBet ($2.2 million). No other sportsbooks reported a handle above $2 million.
