As Iowa approaches its third Super Bowl with legal gambling, industry is betting on big numbers
Super Bowl LVI is poised to be the most bet-on game in sports history, and sports betting in Iowa is expected to rise right along with it.
More than $16.3 million was wagered in Iowa on last year’s Super Bowl, according to totals released by the Iowa Gaming Association. The expectation is this year’s total will finish higher, even without a Midwest team participating.
“Most people think we will see better numbers,” said Brian Ohorilko, who oversees state gaming rules and regulations as the administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. “A lot of that is just because wagering has been up year over year in just about every segment.”
Going on 2½ years since the industry officially entered Iowa’s borders, more than 15 operators are up and running, paired with casinos in all corners of Iowa.
Sunday’s kickoff between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals marks the third “Big Game” in which sports betting has been legal in Iowa. But some elements are in play that make this edition different from the previous two.
While many other states are still riding the initial wave of legal sports betting — a result of much later launch dates than Iowa’s ahead-of-the-curve beginning in August 2019 — Iowa is still steadily seeing its amount of bets increase. From July 2021 to December 2021, for instance, the state's total amount of money placed on sports bets grew from about $90 million to $287 million, according to the Iowa Gaming Association.
The betting numbers coming out of Iowa aren’t the most important figures for massive sportsbooks now active in double-digit states — such as DraftKings, Bet MGM, Caesars, FanDuel and others — but Iowa’s state of affairs does offer an early snapshot of continued sports gambling success beyond the introductory hype.
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What does the Super Bowl mean to sports betting operators in Iowa?
It’s hard to argue a singular sporting event draws in more casual sports bettors than the Super Bowl.
One factor that adds to the excitement is obscure prop bets, or proposition bets, which aren't tied to a game's final score or outcome but are based on actions of an individual player or an event within the game.
Add in enticing promotions, creative combinations and the extra week of buildup compared to the rest of the NFL season, and even those who dabble in sports betting often get swept up in the craze.
One game, rather than a prolonged event, allows for more streamlined marketing. When, say, March Madness rolls around, another pivotal time on the sports calendar for betting operators, promotions may feature parameters that extend over the entire month and require bettors to stay engaged over multiple games.
However, the Super Bowl is over and done within a matter of hours. That can be appealing for those looking for a minimal level of sports betting investment.
While new-user promotions are usually the friendliest and become even friendlier with a Super Bowl slant, sportsbooks place a heavy emphasis on pleasing existing customers as well. Across the board, the number of odds boosts, profit boosts, free-bet offerings and other promotional tactics directly tied to the Super Bowl have drastically increased in the two weeks leading up to Sunday.
That’s especially important as sportsbooks look to differentiate themselves amid increased competition.
“At the end of the day,” Ohorilko said, “the books are competing against each other.”
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What is different for Iowa’s sports betting industry for this Super Bowl?
Let’s first dive into how much the sports betting industry has grown.
When the Kansas City Chiefs faced the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2, 2020, only five sportsbooks were up and running in Iowa with mobile betting options: Elite Sportsbook, Caesars (then William Hill), Q Sportsbook, PointsBet and Hard Rock Sportsbook.
That number had increased to 10 by the time Super LV kicked off last February between the Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with DraftKings, FanDuel, Betfred, MGM and BetRivers all offering mobile betting options between February 2020 and January 2021. It was also at the beginning of 2021 that Iowa relaxed its stipulations and allowed for online registering, after previously requiring Iowans to register in-person at a brick-and-mortar casino before granting access to mobile wagering.
Since then?
Eight more sportsbooks have entered Iowa’s borders — Bally Bet, theScore Bet, Unibet, Fubo Sportsbook, Circa Sportsbook, Betway and Barstool all went live during 2021, as well as DRF Sportsbook in 2022 — bringing the total to 18 ahead of Sunday. With registration options easier than ever and the COVID-19 pandemic no longer suffocating every aspect of sports, the importance of standing out has never been greater for Iowa’s operators.
The new operators, plus a high level of marketing from all operators, have contributed to the increased handle from last year to this year.
Secondly, this will be the first Super Bowl without a “local” team involved for Iowans. The Chiefs narrowly missed their third straight NFL championship game appearance, while the top-seeded Green Bay Packers bowed out in the divisional round.
While there isn’t expected to be a huge betting drop-off in Iowa as a result, the lack of direct Midwest flavor could have some effect by reeling in fewer casual Iowa gamblers.
“Most of the sportsbooks still feel like they will have good numbers,” Ohorilko said. “It’s important to note that a lot of the companies licensed in Iowa are licensed in other states. And so even though maybe the Iowa numbers won’t be as strong — and I’m not saying they won’t be strong — but if they weren’t, then many of these companies have licenses in other states.
“So we haven’t seen a lot of concern, but it is something that is a factor.”
So what do some of Iowa’s Super Bowl promotions look like?
Every book has a different game plan.
We’ll start with new-user promotions, which are the ones most heavily promoted on television commercials, billboards and online ads.
Several books lean on enhanced Super Bowl odds for new users. At FanDuel, new users can get 56/1 odds — a nod to this being the 56th Super Bowl — when betting on either the Rams or Bengals to win. With a $5 bet maximum, that allows a new user to potentially turn $5 into a $280 win on one outcome. DraftKings offers a similar deal, only its $280 payout comes in free bets rather than cash.
Slam-dunk offers usually show up with new-user promotions only. At MGM, new users can place a $10 bet and win $200 in free bets if either team scores. Caesars is offering new users $300 in free bets after placing a $20 bet on the Super Bowl.
Creative options are out there for existing-user promotions, too. This week, Unibet users began receiving daily profit boosts for any Super Bowl bet that gradually increased in percentage — beginning with a 20% boost Monday and climbing all the way up to a 45% boost Friday. Each boost was good for one day only and was capped at a $25 max.
Several books have hopped on the prop bet hype that always surrounds the Super Bowl. At Caesars, users can place a $10 bet on 10 different props and win a $56 free bet if seven or more hit. Bally Bet has a similar promotion, offering up a $56 free bet when $20 or more is placed on 10 different Super Bowl props.
Some books lean toward the absurd. On Barstool, users can place a Super Bowl bet of any amount on any item with minus-200 odds or better and win $20 in bonus cash if a safety, a field goal of 57-plus yards or a kick-return touchdown happens Sunday. DraftKings spent this week handing out $56,000 in free bets for the Super Bowl exclusively to 11 Iowa bettors who hit longshot parlays. The Iowa bettor who had a winning parlay with the longest odds this week received a $6,000 free bet, with the next 10 customers each receiving a $5,000 free bet.
With these kinds of offers and so many more, Iowa bettors have ample options for Super Bowl action. While many will watch with intrigue Sunday — and then never bet again or continue sporadically — countless others will keep going strong with the Super Bowl serving as that initial spark.
“We’ve seen good numbers,” Ohorilko said. “We expect to see good numbers with the big game here this weekend.”
Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Super Bowl expected to bring super numbers for sports betting in Iowa
