William Hill Outshines in Iowa Sports Betting Before Rebrand

William Hill ended its glorious brand name but not before shining as the brightest star in Iowa sports betting, which reported its worst handle since last November. According to the latest figures released Friday by the Iowa Gaming and Racing Commission, William Hill took in $28.7 million in mobile handle in July from the total monthly handle of $88.9 million.

William Hill will operate as Caesars Sportsbook in most markets, including Iowa sports betting. It comes after Caesars Entertainment announced to acquire the UK-based bookmaker last September, and completed the approximately $4.0 billion acquisition this April.

Iowa Sports Betting Handle Lowest Since Nov. 2020

Iowa sports betting is the latest victim to a summer slump – a phase between April and August, with a lack of sporting events in the US. Since March – which brought $161.44 million, the highest-ever handle for the state – Iowa has reported each month a diminishing sports betting handle.

The Hawkeye State’s $89 million in sports betting handle in July represented a 20% dip from June’s $111.1 million. It was also the first time since remote registration was allowed in January that the handle dropped below $100 million.

It was the lowest handle reported by the IRGC since last November’s $87.2 million.

Of the $88.9 million total handle, $77.9 million came through online betting.

Revenue & Other Details

The free-fall effect in handle reflected in revenue, as Iowa’s 18 casinos/sportsbooks collected nearly $7.1 million in July, representing a 15.7% decline from June’s $8.4 million. The hold rate for the last month was 8%, a slight improvement from 7.6% in a month prior.

The state government received $479,479 in taxes from the industry, down 15% from June’s $568,502, according to the IRGC.

Most Iowans preferred to place online bets, with mobile betting accounting for $78 million, representing an 18.1% dip from June’s $95.1 million.

Nearly $11 million was wagered at retail sportsbooks.

Retail Betting Drops 30%

Iowan bettors did not prefer to make frequent visits to the retail sportsbooks at the state’s 18 casinos in July, as the handle of $11 million shows, and which shrank 31.4% from June.

Three casinos – Ameristar Casino, Horseshoe Casino, and Diamond Jo – surpassed $1 million in retail handle last month. Their combined handle shrank $7 million in July from more than $10.2 million in June.

The fourth sportsbook at Rhythm City Casino witnessed a real free-fall in handle to 65.7% from June to nearly $325,000 in July. Over, retail betting could not produce $1 million in cumulative revenue, as the sportsbooks posted a hold of 8.5%.

Iowa Now Allows One Report Per Operator

According to the new changes made by the IRGC, we can view handle and revenue by operator, and also by casino location.

The new reporting method showed Caesars-owned William Hill as the top mobile sportsbook in Iowa for the mobile handle. Its $28.7 million grabbed 36.8% of the total handle.

DraftKings was the second-highest with 30% of the market share, with over $23.4 million in handle.

FanDuel’s $12.1 million allowed it to claim a 15.5% market share, while BetMGM ($6.3 million) and Australian sportsbook PointsBet ($2.3 million) rounded out the top five for Iowa sports betting handle in July.

BetRivers, which landed in the Iowa market as an online-only operator in January, ranked sixth with its $1.6 million handle. The Toronto-based theScore – which Penn National Gaming has announced to acquire in a $2 billion deal this week – ranked eight with over $1.1 million in bets accepted.

What’s Next for Iowa Sports Betting?

Iowa is the first state to post July sports betting numbers, and it’s too early to explain if the free fall is due to exclusive or general reasons. Though NBA Finals games were available, in addition to Olympics betting, they don’t seem to boost the numbers for Iowa sports betting.

The picture will become clearer as soon as other leading states begin posting their monthly handles. But one thing is sure that Iowa’s streak of dipping month-to-month sports betting handles will end by September when college football and NFL betting will be available.