It’s day two of March Madness and the local casinos aren’t complaining about the influx of business. Iowa is new to sports betting, which the state legalized in 2019. But casinos say it’s already attracting a new batch of guests. After Creighton men’s basketball dueled against NC State on Friday, crowds went wild at both the Horseshoe and Ameristar Casinos in Council Bluffs. There’s no such thing as a low-stakes March Madness game for any of the 64 teams taking to the pitch. But the stakes are even higher when there is money at stake on every three-point shot. Ameristar started Sportsbook when the state legalized sports betting in 2019 and they’ve never looked back. “March Madness is typically one of the busiest sports betting weekends of the year,” said Paul Czak, vice president and general manager of Ameristar Casino. “It’s the equivalent of the Super Bowl happening every day for five days,” said Jeffrey Cutri, vice president of operations at Harrah’s and Horseshoe Casinos. Casinos say live in-game betting has been a huge draw for the folks covering everything from free throw success rates to which player will score next. The bets bring casinos hundreds of thousands in revenue without the added foot traffic. “It fills a restaurant, there’s excitement, it’s a great place to watch a game or just hang out. But it’s introduced some patrons that wouldn’t normally spend much time at the casino before, and that’s good for me we all think,” Czak said. “Sports betting accounted for over $80 billion in revenue last year in 2022 , and are expected to grow by over 10 percent in 2023,” Cutri said. For fans of the risk, the rewards can keep you on your toes, especially when each buzzer-beater could mean a big payday.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —
It’s day two of March Madness and the local casinos aren’t complaining about the influx of business.
Iowa is new to sports betting, which the state legalized in 2019. But casinos say it’s already attracting a new batch of guests.
After Creighton men’s basketball dueled against NC State on Friday, crowds went wild at both the Horseshoe and Ameristar Casinos in Council Bluffs.
There’s no such thing as a low-stakes March Madness game for any of the 64 teams taking to the pitch. But the stakes are even higher when there is money at stake on every three-point shot.
Ameristar started Sportsbook when the state legalized sports betting in 2019 and they’ve never looked back.
“March Madness is typically one of the busiest sports betting weekends of the year,” said Paul Czak, vice president and general manager of Ameristar Casino.
“It’s the equivalent of the Super Bowl happening every day for five days,” said Jeffrey Cutri, vice president of operations at Harrah’s and Horseshoe Casinos.
Casinos say live in-game betting has been a huge draw for the folks covering everything from free throw success rates to which player will score next.
The bets bring casinos hundreds of thousands in revenue without the added foot traffic.
“It fills a restaurant, there’s excitement, it’s a great place to watch a game or just hang out. But it did introduce some guests who wouldn’t normally spend much time in the casino before, and that was good for me we all think,” said Czak.
“Sports betting accounted for over $80 billion in revenue last year in 2022 and is expected to grow over 10 percent in 2023,” Cutri said.
For fans of risk, the rewards can keep you on your toes, especially when each buzzer-beater could mean a big payday.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/XFF6BAIZQ5FB5EXSK5LG5UVWGM.jpg?resize=390&w=390 "High School Sports Roundup (March 21) – Baltimore Sun")
