William Hill Tops Iowa Sports Betting Again Before Caesars Sportsbook Switch


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Iowa sports betting

During its last month before switching to Caesars Sportsbook, William Hill claimed the top spot in Iowa sports betting.

On Friday, the Iowa Gaming and Racing Commission reported its July numbers for sports betting in Iowa, including the market-leading $28.7 million online handle for William Hill. That caps off a week that began with Caesars Entertainment rebranding William Hill sportsbooks to Caesars Sportsbook in most markets, including Iowa.

Iowa’s total handle in July was $88.9 million, with $77.9 million coming online.

Big dropoff for IA sports betting

July’s handle was a 20% dropoff from June‘s $111.2 million. It was the first month since November 2020 Iowa sports betting turned in a handle of less than $100 million.

Revenue fared a bit better, dropping from $8.4 million to $7.1 million. The $7.1 million in July was good for a 7.9% hold.

Bettors placed $11 million in wagers at retail sportsbooks.

Summer sports betting slowdown finally here?

The 20% handle drop in Iowa is steep. But with the sports schedule easing up significantly in the summer, July is likely to be a low point for US sports betting.

Iowa is the first state to report July sports betting revenue, so it is too early to tell if the big drop is an anomaly. A few NBA Finals games in early July and Olympics betting do not appear to boost Iowa figures much.

Data from 2020 was skewed significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the sports schedule. With NFL training camps starting up, the slowdown is not likely to last long.

New market leader in Iowa?

With the William Hill switchover to Caesars Sportsbook, the gaming giant takes over pole position in at least one state. Caesars closed its deal to acquire William Hill in April.

In July, William Hill secured nearly 37% of the market’s online bets.

The operator recorded $831,757 in revenue, for a hold of less than 3%.

Rest of the IA sports betting field

DraftKings and FanDuel led the rest of the pack, with $23.5 million and $12.1 million in handle, respectively.

OperatorHandleRevenueHoldMarket Share
William Hill$28.7 million$831,7572.9%36.7%
DraftKings$23.5 million$2.6 million11%30.1%
FanDuel$12.1 million$1.5 million12.3%15.5%
BetMGM$6.3 million$717,78111%8%
PointsBet$2.3 million$292,10613%3%
BetRivers$1.6 million$16,4581%2%
Elite$1.2 million$88,8757.4%<2%
theScore$1.1 million$53,2504.8%<2%
Betfred$456,938$57,62312.6%<1%
Hard Rock$416,720$39,1659.4%<1%
Q Sportsbook$222,715$13,8996.2%<1%
Bally Bet$65,934$11,72217.8%<1%