The sports betting company Fan Duel has been fined $95,000 on two violations involving wagers not allowed in Iowa.
Racing and Gaming Racing administrator Tina Eick says one of the violations came from bets on soccer games. “You can’t wager on decisions made by an umpire or referee in the state, and so one of their counts involved a case where they offered wagers on yellow and red cards and soccer and then another count involved offering a league that was not authorized in this particular case it happened to be Filipino basketball,” she says.
Eick says this was not the company’s first violation in the last year. “FanDuel had previous violations, unfortunately, in both of those areas. And the commission wanted to send a strong message that they take those compliance issues very seriously. And so they issued the $95,000 fine.” she says.
Bets on what will happen as a game are going on are known as prop bets, and Eick says Iowa doesn’t allow some of them. “Particularly wagers that are determinable by one player in one play. Those just are integrity issues and have the potential for manipulation, and so we steer clear of those. But beyond those things involving referees and the calls that they make are also off limits,” Eick says. And she says you also can’t bet on minor league games in Iowa. “So you can’t bet on the I Cubs, that’s…….somewhat analogous here with the Filipino basketball,” Eick says. The fines came at the Racing and Gaming Commission’s July meeting.
Eick says there was significant growth in sports gambling revenue for the fiscal year that ended in June. “They’re up almost 15% year over year. And then altogether with both casino and sports wagering revenue, the total taxes collected exceeded 331 million dollars for the state,” Eick says.
Eick says one sport continues to drive sports betting. “Football is king for sports wagering. That drives the numbers year in and year out. Lots of interest with March Madness as well. But again, football is king,” she says.
Part of the World Cup soccer tournament started before the fiscal year was over, and Eick says it did bring in some new betting. She says there was some increased interest in soccer that they don’t see every year..
Total casino revenue for the 2026 fiscal year hit $1.7 billions, a 1.3% increase over fiscal year 2025. Total sports revenue for the fiscal year reached was nearly $285 million.
