Earlier this month, the state of Iowa officially launched legalized sports betting. Now, sportsbooks are ramping up their legal sports betting offerings as it grows within the state. Wild Rose Entertainment is one such gaming company in Iowa with casinos in Clinton, Emmetsburg, and Jefferson. The local resort company has been a staple of small-town sports betting in Iowa for more than a decade now.
Wild Rose is actually teaming up with two sports betting companies, DraftKings from Massachusetts and Rush Street Interactive from Illinois. DraftKings is a sports technology provider that is well known for daily fantasy sports and will serve as both a retail and mobile partner. Their other partner Rush Street Interactive is a socially-oriented sportsbook that will be used primarily to develop a mobile betting solution.
Rush Street Interactive is planning to release their iGaming online betting solution before the end of the year. It definitely won’t be ready by next month for the NFL, but the platform should still be available by 2020. Interested bettors will be able to use their service by visiting the website: BetRivers.com. Anyone wishing to place a bet will still need to register at a physical establishment per Iowa’s sports betting laws.
Fortunately, Iowa residents can visit any of Wild Rose’s three casino locations to do this. After a resident has registered in-person, they can freely place wagers anywhere within the state’s borders on BetRivers.com. This requirement will only last until the beginning of 2021, after which interested bettors won’t need to visit a casino. Both of Wild Rose Entertainment’s new partnerships are a done deal as the gaming and racing commission of Iowa have already approved these partnerships.
Wild Rose definitely isn’t the only casino company attempting to expand their sports betting presence. Earlier in the week, William Hill actually released their mobile sports betting application to the public. William Hill’s testing partner, BMM Testlabs, has also approved their mobile betting application for public use.
William Hill is one of the country’s fastest-growing sportsbooks and can currently be found in four casinos within Iowa. These include the Lakeside Hotel & Casino, Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo, Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, and Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf. With the recent moves by Wild Rose and William Hill, there’s a great chance of legal sports betting flourishing in Iowa.
