© PA
FanDuel launched its online and mobile sportsbook in Iowa Thursday through a partnership with Boyd Gaming.
Iowa becomes the seventh state where the FanDuel online and mobile platform is available. The announcement in a news release comes days after FanDuel’s sports betting app went live in neighboring Illinois.
RELATED: Learn more about Iowa gaming and sports betting
Like Illinois, Iowa has a strict in-person registration requirement for sports betting. But it’s currently suspended in Illinois until at least Sept. 19 and the requirement in Iowa ends on Jan. 1, 2021.
For the next four months, to activate a FanDuel online or mobile sports betting account, Iowa bettors will need to complete their registration at one of the FanDuel Sportsbooks at Diamond Jo casinos in either Dubuque or Northwood, the news release said. Both casinos are owned by Boyd Gaming.
Also on Thursday, FanDuel announced it was expanding it free-to-play contests for the start of the NFL season. FanDuel, which runs its weekly Gridiron Pick’em, will be also launching free pick’em games with the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers and the Washington Football Team.
Iowa legalized sports betting in May 2019 and took its first retail and online sports bets in August 2019. The first sports betting app to go live that month was William Hill.
Total sports betting handle in July in Iowa was $22.9 million, an almost 80% increase over June’s $12.7 million. The last full month of sports betting before the pandemic was February and Iowa took in nearly $57 million worth of wagers. And that’s with the in-person registration requirement in place.
For operators, Iowa is attractive because its 6.75% tax rate on revenue is tied with Nevada for the lowest in the country. In addition to William Hill and FanDuel, DraftKings and PointsBet also have apps live in Iowa, as do several others.
The Iowa casinos run by Boyd Gaming with the FanDuel Sportsbooks are two of 29 properties in 10 states for the casino company. FanDuel went live on Aug. 28 at Boyd Gaming’s Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria, Illinois, and the app is called the “FanDuel Par-A-Dice Sportsbook.”
