Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes may not have won the NCAA Women’s Tournament, but their second straight Final Four appearance likely boosted handle in April.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported $209.5 million in accepted bets for the month, a year-over-year increase of 21.4% that coincided with a marked increase in exposure for Clark — the eventual No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA — and women’s college basketball compared to 2023.
The IRGC does not break out figures by sport, but the Hawkeyes had two games in April to help boost numbers. April’s handle was down 23.1% from the $272 million bet in March, the sixth-highest total in state history.
Sportsbooks across the state combined to post a 7.9% hold, resulting in $16.5 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue. Operator winnings were up 17.1% from April 2023, lagging behind handle as the win rate was nearly a third of a percentage point lower. The state received $1.1 million worth of tax receipts, lifting the year-to-date total to $4.8 million — $641,500 more than the first four months of 2023.
A mixed bag of mobile results 5b571d
APRIL Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 NEW YORK ~$1.97B
2 Maryland $486.3M
3 Indiana $393.9M
4 Tennessee $380.9M
5 IOWA $209.5M
6 West Virginia $34.4M
7 Montana $5.5M
8 TBD
9 TBD
10 TBD#SportsBettingX #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) May 10, 2024
The overall hold on mobile wagers was 8%, with the 19 active operators accepting $196.6 million worth of bets. DraftKings paced the group in revenue and handle, posting an 8.5% win rate to collect $6.2 million in winnings from $73.1 million in handle.
ESPN BET narrowly missed equaling its March revenue despite a 30% drop in handle to $7.5 million thanks to a 10.2% hold that was close to three percentage points higher.
BetMGM was the fourth and final operator to have an eight-figure handle at $14.7 million, and it claimed $934,300 on the strength of a 6.4% win rate.
Circa Sports absorbed its largest monthly loss in Iowa as bettors pocketed $127,900 on top of the $2.8 million they wagered.
Daily Racing Form posted its first loss since its debut month of January 2022, with bettors making a $12,800 profit on $542,400 worth of bets. In of winning and losing months as a record, SuperBook fell to 10-9 after taking its largest loss — paying out $16,600 above the $154,200 in bets placed. Q Casino’s mobile sportsbook took a four-figure hit, losing $3,500 on $76,900 in handle.
Some retail books endure tough April 4k1i3a
For the second time in 2024, Iowa’s 19 retail sportsbooks failed to reach $1 million in collective revenue, but unlike February, they did finish with positive revenue in totaling $812,300 from $12.9 million in handle, which was good for a 6.3% hold.
Only two venues — Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs and Diamond Jo Casino in Worth — finished with six-figure hauls and combined for $593,900. Five brick-and-mortar sportsbooks posted losses for April, none bigger than the $47,869 reported by Riverside Casino and Golf Resort against $186,400 worth of bets.
Riverside has yet to come out ahead in any month this year and is currently $233,000 down with a minus-18.9% hold. Q Casino’s retail location paid out $13,281 above the $220,400 in wagers accepted as the public prevented them from breaking even for the year and swelled its deficit to $14,000.
