Iowa Sees Major Decline in Sports Betting Handle for June

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission announced that the state’s betting handle continued to decline sharply in June. They reported $115.5 million in wagers last month, down over 21% from May. The Hawkeye State has now seen a 50% decrease in the previous three months alone. In May, the state at least saw an increase in revenue, but that was not the case last month.

The dip in the amount of money being wagered has led to sportsbooks falling fall short of their “hold.” The “hold” refers to the money sportsbooks set aside for taxes to the state. Sportsbooks held an average of 11% of their revenue in May, which dropped to 6.1% in June. That means less money for the state, even with the vast majority of Iowa’s sportsbooks turning a profit last month.

Despite declining in June, Iowa closed the fiscal year with a big jump in gross revenue from legal sports betting. They brought in a total of $182.8 million from July 1, 2022, thru June 30, 2023. That was up from the $139.5 million total from the previous year, a 23.7% jump. The impressive yearly numbers help compensate for the decline of the last few months and indicate that the market is still growing.

Reason for Iowa’s Handle Decline

One of the biggest reasons for the decline can be attributed to the time of the year. With the NBA and NHL seasons officially over, bettors are left with baseball betting until football begins in the fall. Other leagues like the WNBA and MLS are running, but they draw far fewer wagers than the larger leagues. Even the MLB is a league many casual bettors avoid, leading to a drop in wagers nationwide.

Another reason for the decline is that the number of Midwest states that allow sports betting continues to grow. That means fewer players traveling from out-of-state, leading to a noticeable drop in Iowa’s handle. With neighboring Nebraska recently launching its own sports betting industry, those numbers could continue to dip even when sports do pick back up.