By: Jacob Sexton — [email protected]
Des Moines, IA — A new aspect of the sports world is coming to Iowa as officials of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved sports betting in a unanimous vote yesterday afternoon.
Commissioner Jeff Lamberti motioned and then the vote was quickly seconded into all members voting yes. Racing and Gaming Commissioner Brian Ohorilko made the announcement that casinos in Iowa can begin offering sports betting on August 15th at noon.
18 of the 19 casinos in Iowa were given sports betting licenses with the Casino Queen in Marquette the only one not to apply for a license yet. Ohorilko went on to say following the meeting that the August 15th date seemed most fair to all casinos as it gave enough time for ones that were maybe a little behind to still be able to get their sports betting up and running before football season begins even if they don’t meet the August 15th date.
Iowa joins eleven other states that have passed legislation to legalize sports betting joining neighboring Illinois as the only two states in the Midwest to have it. There are currently six other states with sports betting but is not yet live.
Six more states have legislation in their state currently but have not yet been passed. The US Government legalized sports betting nationwide in May of 2018, leaving it up to states to pass laws of their own.