Iowa's July Numbers Support Notion of Huge Sports Betting Bounce

A common theme in the US legal sports betting industry has been quick recovery and a strong summer rebound. Iowa is the latest state on the board that supports this notion, thanks to its July figures that were released at the end of last week. While the numbers from the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission are still relatively low for a typical July, they do show that pent-up demand and the return of major sports in North America will have hand in leading the betting industry out of its coronavirus hole.

Iowa, in comparison to the "Big 3", Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania is a small market, but it does represent a decent sample-size of what exactly is going on with the US legal sports betting scene. In February of this year, during the height of the legal betting season, Iowa took in nearly $57 million in bets - decent for a state with a population its size. Understandably, those figures dropped dramatically when casinos closed and the sporting world came to a virtual standstill in March.

A Deep Dive Into the Numbers

In figures released Friday, Iowa reported a $22,859,622 handle for July which is less than half of their record haul in February but substantially higher than the number of bets brought in during June's sporting re-startup. July's figures represent an eye-opening 80% increase from June's $12,711,201 handle.

Revenues for the month of July showed an even more dramatic increase. Revenues from June to July climbed 261.5% to $2,244,012 from the $620,740 in June. Tax revenue for the month of July came in at about $150,000.

Iowa's mobile betting platform, which features an already antiquated in-person sign-up rule, was responsible for 78% of July's handle or $17,770,140. That represents yet another increase of 53.4% from June's $11,581,727 mobile betting take. It is not lost on regulators in the state just how much a remote sign-up policy would have aided the state's sports betting industry during the coronavirus lockdowns. Simply put, in-person sign-up cost the state’s betting providers and ultimately Iowas’ state and local coffers, which have been dramatically sapped due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Consistent Climb to Continue?

Casinos in Iowa, which had been shuttered for months, started to reopen in June. With MLB, the NBA, NHL, PGA, and almost weekly UFC action filling out the sports betting menu, sportsbook momentum is expected to keep climbing. Summer is generally a “down time” for the legal sports betting industry but as we all know by now, 2020 is a story of its own.

Books are also on the cusp of welcoming the NFL into the mix in September - it has always been the sports betting industry's bread and butter and barring any COVID-related disaster, it should continue to be.

Iowa has now seen three straight months of handle increases, coinciding with the return of sports to our everyday lives.

Potential Roadblocks for Robust Recovery

COVID-19 and its effects still loom large over the US economy and the US legal sports betting industry. Nobody is exactly sure what is in store for the country as the virus continues to rage. Will casinos be staring at another shutdown? Will sports leagues weather the coronavirus storm? Will Americans have the expendable income to throw down on their favorite teams?

The only certainty is the fact that the sports betting numbers in Iowa and the nation for that matter, will not fully rebound until the end of the pandemic that is currently consuming everyday life. Then again, never will betting providers have the luxury of all four of its major sports running simultaneously for months on end.