Bettors Send Iowa Retail Sportsbooks To Third Februrary Loss In Five Years

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported retail sportsbooks in the Hawkeye State took a collective loss of $215,242 in February on Wednesday, likely driven by the Kansas City Chiefs repeating as Super Bowl champions.

The state agency does not parse out specific sports betting numbers for Super Bowl wagering, but these outcomes have been common in Iowa when Kansas City emerges victorious. Each time the Chiefs have lifted the Lombardi Trophy in 2020, 2023, and 2024, the state’s brick-and-mortar venues have finished February in the red when adding up the totals.

Year Handle Revenue Hold Super Bowl Outcome
2020 $19,133,908 ($614,574) (3.21%) CHIEFS W 31-20 49ers
2021 $18,396,722 $1,706,326 9.28% Buccaneers W 31-9 CHIEFS
2022 $20,523,287 $793,557 3.87% Rams W 23-20 Bengals
2023 $17,683,124 ($597,731) (3.38%) CHIEFS W 38-35 Eagles
2024 $16,748,245 ($215,242) (1.29%) CHIEFS W 25-22 (OT) 49ers
TOTALS $92,485,286 $1,072,336 1.16%

With Chiefs Kingdom reaching beyond Kansas’ borders, sportsbooks had a middling February overall in the Hawkeye State. Operator revenue totaled $13.6 million, up 14.6% from the previous year. Much of that increase can be traced to the 13.8% year-over-year surge in handle to $220.6 million since the 6.2% hold was practically flat versus 2023.

  
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