The gaming numbers for the Hawkeye State’s fiscal year 2022-2023 are out and a year-over-year increase in revenue was experienced in all sectors of the market with lottery, casino gaming, and Iowa sports betting all reporting growth.
Lottery Booms
Record-setting sales are being reported in the Iowa Lottery as $481.5 million worth of lottery products were purchased between July 1st, 2022, and June 30th, 2023 delivering $108.2 million to the state’s tax coffers which broke the annual revenue record.
Lottery sales experienced an increase of 11.3% over the last fiscal year which saw $432.7 million in lottery purchases while revenue also spiked 10.5% over the same period. The lottery per product sales comparison between FY 2023 versus FY 2022 is reported below:
In an Iowa Lottery press release, Katie New, chairperson of the Iowa Lottery Board, noted the success of the state’s lottery sales but also pointed out the elevated profile of National Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
“As a citizen Board member, it’s important to me to see the positive impact that the Iowa Lottery, its staff, and retailers have achieved for our state. As an Iowa resident, I recognize and appreciate the lottery team’s public-mindedness in producing results for the good causes supported by lottery proceeds,” said New.
Betting Bonanza in the Hawkeye State
The lottery wasn’t the only gaming sector in Iowa revealing an increase as casinos also reported upturns in business. Iowa casinos were up $31.5 million, or 1.7%, in overall revenue compared to last fiscal year, generating a whopping $1.9 billion for the state’s casinos.
Although the vast majority of that revenue was generated by casino table games, slots, and poker, the sportsbooks also showed an increase in revenue over the last fiscal year. Sports betting gross revenue produced $182.8 million versus $139.5 million in the previous fiscal year while the handle was also up over 23.7%.
Speaking of sports betting, the Iowa sports betting legislation that was initially approved and signed into law required bettors to sign up in person to obtain a mobile app. However, a change to the law in January 2021 did away with that mandate allowing easier and more convenient access to signing up for an account which has attracted many more customers.
“That threw the door open for sports betting in Iowa and numbers have rocketed to records since then,” said industry analyst, Russ Mitchell. “You could literally sign up for 17 different sportsbooks right now and compare odds from one sportsbook to another … and maximize your success that way. That really ramped up the advertising. That’s why you saw a lot of DraftKings and FanDuel ads” offering free play dollars and promotional credits.”
Iowa’s gaming sector generated $389.1 million in FY22-23 and these gaming trends suggest bigger and better for next year.
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