Iowa has only recently legalized land-based gambling casinos; legal gambling began with riverboat casinos being opened for business in 1989. Since then, Iowa’s gambling industry has steadily grown – from physical casino locations to online sports betting and daily fantasy sports!
Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) oversees online gambling in Iowa with full transparency, ensuring each gambling operator granted permission by them has met a stringent list of requirements and submitted at least 10% of their adjusted gross revenue towards charitable causes.
IRGC works to ensure all licensed operators in its state offer programs to aid problem gamblers, since people who spend too much time gambling are at a greater risk of addiction. All licensed operators are required to display contact details for an independent gambling hotline on property signage, advertising materials and promotional materials on their premises; as well as adhere to voluntary self-exclusion programs and make responsible gaming tools readily available on their websites.
After PASPA was found unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2018, Iowan lawmakers moved quickly to legalize sports wagering. Retail and online sportsbooks opened for business by 2019 with Governor Kim Reynolds signing relevant legislation into law; by 2022 there were approximately 12 online sportsbooks operating across Iowa.
Iowa may currently ban online casino gaming for real money, yet players still enjoy social and sweepstakes games that provide Iowans an opportunity to test the waters should the state decide to legalise real-money online casino gaming in the future.
Residents of the state currently can place bets on sports events and races at both online and retail sportsbooks, as well as daily fantasy sports and esports betting – although certain restrictions do apply; for instance esports wagers are only approved for certain games, like basketball and football; additionally players are required to present government issued ID in order to place bets.
With legal sports betting now legal in Iowa, lawmakers will look into expanding gambling to include all casino games. A bill could be introduced within several years but passing it may prove challenging due to Iowa being one of the highest taxed states; local governments rely heavily on casino revenues as part of their budgets, so any proposal to reduce overall tax take would face considerable resistance from legislators. Despite these challenges, however, online gambling remains rapidly expanding across both US and worldwide markets.