Betfred Sportsbook Goes Live in Iowa

Last week Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood, Iowa announced that its partnership deal with the UK-based sports betting operator Betfred finally materialized, as the casino opened a sports book where day-to-day operations will be handled by the bookmaker partner.

Iowa Market Quite Dynamic

Since the moment Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill to make mobile, online and land-based sports betting activities legal in the state back in May 2019, the state has been witnessing rapid developments, with the state regulatory body, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, giving license in the subsequent several months to 18 out the 19 state casinos, approving them for accepting sports bets, with seven of them launching mobile sports books straight away after the approval.

Located for Extra Revenue

The Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort is one of the three resort-type casinos operated by Elite Casino Resorts, a company owned by the Kehl family, and is situated near the South Dakota state line, in relatively close proximity to the Minnesota state line, a location that is giving it access to the sports betting clients of two states where accepting wagers on sports events is illegal and has no chance of becoming legal soon due to conflicts with tribal interests, and the opening of the Betfred sports book comes just on time for the Super Bowl LIV Final.

Betfred Is the Engine

Having a significant operator such as Betfred behind its sports betting operations allows the casino to accommodate a huge variety of bets on college games, including prop bets on different element of the game beside the winner, with the availability of different wagers accepted for the incoming Super Bowl Final game alone reaching almost 1,000, beating even some of the Las Vegas sports books on that, but the ambition of the UK gambling company does not stop here as their plans for the near future include the launch of an online app in parallel with the physical casino sports book, hoping to achieve that before the March Madness college basketball tournament.

One Live, Three More to Follow

The UK sports betting company, through its US subsidiary, Betfred USA Sports, is planning to enter with sports betting operations into at least 3 more states, besides Iowa, Pennsylvania via Wind Creek Bethlehem which is operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, who also have gaming facilities in Alabama and Florida, and Colorado via Saratoga Casino in Black Hawk.

“We’re going to be very aggressive when it comes to attacking different states and attracting partnerships…We want everyone to know who Betfred is…”, Bryan Bennett, COO, Betfred USA