Casinos in the Hawkeye State reported $1.76 billion in gross revenue for traditional table games and slots while an additional $139 million was generated in Iowa sports betting, both annual records.
Setting Records
A reported 17.8 million visits to Iowa’s 19 casinos showed an increase of 1.4 million from last year but that number was still below the record high of 22 million visitors in 2012. Nevertheless, the $1.76 billion in revenue set a record in the state while sports betting delivered $139 million to the sportsbooks.
These were combined increases of approximately 1.76% or $31.5 million from Fiscal Year 21-22. Iowa’s retail and online sportsbooks were up a whopping 23.7% in revenue compared to last fiscal year, setting a record in Fiscal Year 22-23. Gaming licensees paid out over $389 million of their taxable revenues in FY22-23.
And although the casinos have been wildly successful in Iowa, the state has put a moratorium on any new casinos until July 1st, 2024. Whether that moratorium will be extended remains to be seen but that hasn’t stopped Cedar Rapids officials from moving ahead with plans to build a casino in their neck of the woods, pending state approval.
Casino Maybe
The Cedar Rapids Development Group (CRDG), a group of approximately 80 businessmen and women, has been clamoring for a casino to be built in the second-largest city in the state since 2014. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) rejected the initial attempt and another one made by the group in 2017.
However, now the CRDG has partnered with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) to lobby yet again for a commercial casino to invigorate the local economy. The Cedar Rapids City Council has voted in favor of allocating city-owned land, west of the downtown area, for a potential commercial hotel and resort casino.
The specific location is F and I Avenue NW and First and Fifth Streets NW which is a 25-acre parcel that would be sold to CRDG should they be granted a casino license. Cedar Crossing is the name of the planned hotel and casino resort that would be a partnership between CRDG and P2E.
“We are pleased that the Cedar Rapids City Council has taken the next step to make Cedar Crossing a reality,” Jonathan Swain, president of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, said in a statement.
“Cedar Crossing will be the best casino construction project that Iowa has ever seen, and it will allow us to live out our mission of service, quality, and community through charitable giving among Linn County nonprofits and funding to the City of Cedar Rapids.”
Mayor Fights for Approval
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell implored Republican Governor Kim Reynolds to lift the casino ban so the project in her community could go forward. “The best course for Iowa is to keep gaming decisions under the purview of the IRGC. They are best suited to determine the appropriate path forward for our gaming industry,” O’Donnell wrote in her letter to the governor.
“Accordingly, I respectfully ask you to veto HF 2497,” the mayor pleaded.
However, it didn’t move the governor or her colleagues to lift the status quo and Mayor O’Donnell was quick to point out that very little discussion took place on the matter.
It was incredibly frustrating to learn of the lack of dialogue or consideration involved in the moratorium amendment,” O’Donnell told Reynolds. “On Senator Jack Whitver’s Iowa Press appearance, he stated the Senate Republican caucus discussed the issue for ‘probably 20 seconds.’”
Calculators
