A disappointing performance from the retail channel hit Iowa’s licensed sports betting market last month and offset another strong performance from online.
iGaming Business and Ficom Leisure are delighted to present the Iowa iGaming Dashboard, providing a monthly breakdown of the latest figures from the Hawkeye State’s regulated gambling market.
The data will be updated monthly following the official release of figures from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
Retail handle fell by 20.7% to $19.2m in February, but the picture was even worse when it came to revenue. Last month retail GGR fell into negative territory, with a loss of $0.6m representing a fall of 131.6% on the previous month’s $1.9m.
The picture was better on the online front, however, with handle hitting its highest level since the market opened last August at $37.8m. This was an 11.8% rise on January’s $33.8m.
The strong turnover didn’t translate into higher GGR, however, and this remained flat on the previous month at $1.4m.
Prairie Meadows’ online market share rebounded strongly last month after having fallen dramatically in January. Last month the operator, powered by William Hill, saw its market share rise to 58.2% from 42.4% in January, although this remained slightly below December’s high of 60.5%.
William Hill didn’t fare so well when it came to its Isle Casino Hotel in Waterloo partnership, with its market share there more than halving to 9.3%, down from 19.5% in January.
Riverside Casino, the second-placed operator in the online market, continued to gain ground, with its Bet.Works-operated online sportsbook taking 13.4% of the market in February, up from 11.7% in January.
Despite performing strongly in its first full month of operation in January, Hard Rock Casino’s Gaming Innovation Group-powered online offering fell back significantly last month, taking just 2.2% of the market, down from 6.1% the previous month.
Last month saw the launch of an online DraftKings offering in the state via its partnerships with three Wild Rose properties.
Despite only launching towards the end of the month, it picked up a 5.1% share of the online market via Wild Rose Jefferson, so it will be interesting to see how the operator performs in March.
Looking at the combined online and retail market, Prairie Meadows remained some way in front with 46.2% of the market in February. Its nearest competitors are steadily increasing their shares, however.
The FanDuel-powered Diamond Jo Casino in Worth saw its share rise to 17% last month, up from 13.8% in January.
Third-placed Riverside Casino saw its share rise to 11.4% last month, up from 7.5% in January.
Ficom Leisure also provides monthly figures on New Jersey in the New Jersey iGaming Dashboard, Indiana in the Indiana iGaming Dashboard, and Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania iGaming Dashboard.
It also provides quarterly figures, available via iGamingBusiness.com, on the Spanish online market in the Spain iGaming Dashboard, on the Danish market in the Denmark iGaming Dashboard, and on the Portuguese market in the Portugal iGaming Dashboard.
A European corporate advisory firm, Ficom Leisure is a specialist in all segments of the betting and gaming sector.