Iowa casinos took in $3.2m in revenue in January, an 11.4% year-on-year increase, despite handle declining 2.1% to $58.0m as lower success of retail punters offset a weak online win rate.
The improvement in revenue came mostly thanks to success from retail sportsbooks, which took in $1.9m, up 76.3% from December 2019. This increase came in spite of retail handling declining 6.3% to $24.2m.
Online revenue, meanwhile, fell 25.8% month-on-month to $1.4m, the lowest figure for any full month of online sports betting since its launch in Iowa. This occurred despite players betting $33.8m online, a record for the state.
Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino’s William Hill sportsbook was once again the main source of sports betting revenue in the state. However, the casino’s sports betting revenue fell 44.5% month-on-month to $691,506 even though handle increased 4.4% to $20.1m.
Online continued to be the main vehicle for betting at Prairie Meadows, bringing in $581,538 on a handle of $18.6m. However, this revenue figure was down 48.0% month-on-month.
The Diamond Jo Casino in Worth moved into second place in revenue, bringing in $446,490, up 101.8% from December 2019, on a $4.8m handle despite only offering retail bets. The Ameristar II Casino in Council Bluffs, which also only offers retail betting, slipped to third in revenue with $415,795.
The Isle Casino in Waterloo had the third-largest handle in the state, at $4.2m, $5,000 ahead of Ameristar II, and brought in $322,408 in revenue. Of this figure, $54,825 came from retail and $267,583 from online.