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Iowa Market Adds Fubo, Barstool Sportsbooks

Dave Bonderoff

Last Updated: November 5, 2021 11:12 AM EDT • 2 min 48 sec read.

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - OCTOBER 01: Iowa Hawkeyes fans celebrate after a 51-14 victory against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on October 01, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. Greg Fiume/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Greg Fiume / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

With the influx of hugely positive earning reports out of various jurisdictions in the U.S. legal sports betting industry, the launches of two sportsbooks in the state of Iowa quietly took place this week without a whole lot of fanfare.

Iowa, whose legal sports betting industry set a record in September with a $210.4-million handle, added Fubo Sportsbook and Barstool Sportsbook to its already impressive provider family this week in hopes of better-than-September sports betting figures in the future.

Both Fubo and Barstool will be battling with the elite providers currently populating the Iowa scene, but are expected to carve out their own market share in the increasingly competitive state.

Fubo first

Fubo launched on Nov. 3 and the sportsbook promises the new provider will be fully integrated with Fubo TV, one of the top live TV streaming platforms in the U.S. Fubo promises a full menu of thousands of professional and collegiate sporting events to bet on.

Fubo brings a unique approach to the Iowa scene and will go with an intriguing "Watching Now" feature which marries betting lines and relevant promotional wagering offers with what viewers of the streaming service are watching on any given day. It's the interactivity and integration of the Fubo TV/Fubo sportsbook that will eventually make the sportsbook a unique experience for Iowa bettors.

"FuboTV’s vision to define a new category of interactive sports and entertainment television takes another major step forward with the launch of Fubo Sportsbook," said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of fuboTV. "This is a pivotal moment not just for fuboTV, but for the U.S. sports wagering and entertainment industries because it is the first time the two are truly coming together in one ecosystem. It’s important to realize that Fubo Sportsbook is not simply an add-on product to fuboTV, but a product synced with the live TV streaming experience."

The goal for Fubo is to flip its streaming users in Iowa to sportsbook customers and do so with far less customer acquisition cost than traditional books. Right now, Fubo has an estimated 700,000 users across the country with a hopeful five million in the next five years. If Fubo can flip 50 percent of those users to its sportsbook platform, the sports betting side of their business will be a huge success.

Thanks to a market agreement with Casino Queen in Iowa, Fubo sportsbook is just one of many hopeful destinations for Fubo. Pennsylvania, Arizona, Indiana, and New Jersey are on the radar for the sports betting/streaming brand.

Now for the anticipated Barstool Sportsbook launch

Barstool Sportsbook has become a big deal in every market it has launched or hopes to have a presence in. Iowa is no different. As of Tuesday, bettors in Iowa became the 10th state to gain access to the Barstool brand, and the third of just this fall.

Barstool enters the Iowa market with a fair share of promotional and welcome bonuses that include a $10 bonus just for registering. With its bonus features and recognizable name, Barstool hopes to make an immediate splash in the Iowa market.

“As the only gaming operator with a fully integrated sports media and entertainment partner, we have the unique ability to attract new and existing Penn National customers to enjoy our retail and interactive gaming, sports betting and entertainment offerings, as evidenced by our performance to date in Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania,” Penn National CEO Jay Snowden said in May. "We are eager to leverage the building momentum for the Barstool Sportsbook app with the additional launches we have planned for 2021.”

The Barstool name, prior to entering the legal sports betting world, was a bit of a media phenomenon. With its bombastic style of broadcasting, the company boasted 9.2 million unique listeners each month for its collection of 38 podcasts, and an overall audience of about 66 million. The number of loyal followers has only grown with its foray into the gambling scene.

Barstool recently added streaming service SLING to its portfolio and will attack the Iowa market in a similar fashion to Fubo.

"The Barstool Sports Channel features live content from the brand’s portfolio of video podcasts, blogs, and video series. SLING users can access the Barstool Sports Channel via the SLING guide to catch special commentary, live content, and more in time for the (college) football season,” according to a statement issued by SLING.

Written By:
Dave Bonderoff
Dave Bonderoff and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by "odds". Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn't found a sport yet that can't contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.