Soon anyone who is 21 and older will be able to bet on professional and college sports in Iowa.
Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law on Monday a bill that legalized sports betting, following bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Wild Rose Jefferson Manager Travis Dvorak says all sports betting will be done through the state’s 19 casinos and oversight will be through the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. It will be investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The bill allows for bets on professional and college sports, but Dvorak says there are some exceptions when it comes to betting on college games.
“They did put a provision in that you could bet on the win, the over-under, the spread, but you can’t bet on the in-game betting. So you can’t bet on the individual stats. They thought that would be very important that in state, you could not bet on those individual athletes. They felt that that was something the (Board of) Regents wanted, that’s something the universities wanted. I think that’s a really good (and) responsible compromise.”
The bill also allows for bets to be taken through a mobile app, once you’ve registered at a casino. As far as changing how the casino and the Coach’s restaurant at Wild Rose operates with sports betting, Dvorak says there won’t be too much done.
“We are looking at some remodeling. The bookmaking will probably be happening in Coach’s restaurant. We’ll put in a booth, a betting area and a kiosk machine. We’ll put some kiosk machines on the casino floor itself. But in Coach’s, we probably upgrade that big screen (T.V.) we got. The companies we’re looking at, they’ll bring in the tickers, the scoreboards and all that good stuff as well.”
Dvorak adds that IRGC is working on the rules and regulations of how to implement sports betting into the casinos. He anticipates having it operational by the professional and college football seasons. District 24 Senator Jerry Behn of Boone voted against the bill in the Senate, while District 47 Representative Phil Thompson of Jefferson voted in favor of it in the House.