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DraftKings Receives Approval to offer DFS in Iowa

Daily fantasy sports contests are officially coming to Iowa.

On Thursday, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) granted DraftKings authorization to hold daily fantasy sports (DFS) contest in the Hawkeye State.

DraftKings is the first daily fantasy sports operator to receive approval to hold daily fantasy in the state of Iowa.

Timothy Dent, Chief Financial and Compliance Officer at DraftKings said: “We are happy to confirm we have received our license to offer daily fantasy sports in Iowa after working collaboratively with the IRGC on this process and look forward to sports fans in the Hawkeye State experiencing our industry-leading fantasy products soon.”

A date has yet to be set for the launch of DFS in Iowa.

The journey to DFS in Iowa

Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds passed legislation approving daily fantasy sports contests back in May at the same she approved sports betting legislation.

Several of Iowa’s sportsbooks began to launch sports betting operations in mid-August, just in time for the start of the 2019 NFL season. However, Brian Ohorilko of the IRGC predicted that the launch of DFS would be late.

Ohorilko’s prediction was correct, DFS was late to arrive in Iowa due to delays caused by the technology certification process for DFS sites. Now that DraftKings has received approval its just a matter of time until Iowans can take part in DFS contests.

The DFS landscape

With the passage of Iowa’s DFS laws in May, the Hawkeye State became the 21st state to regulate daily fantasy sports contests.

In the US a handful of states such as Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Louisiana have yet to approve DFS sites.

Sports betting in Iowa

Iowa was the first US state to launch land-based sports betting and mobile sports betting at the same time. With just 94 days between the signing of the bill and the launch of sports betting in the Hawkeye State, Iowa’s timeline to launch sports betting was one of the quickest in the US.

Under the state’s sports betting laws, residents and visitors must be at least 21 years of age and physically located within state lines before they can place a bet. Operators in the state are required to use geolocation technology to verify a customer’s location.

The only bet types that are prohibited under state law are proposition bets on in-state college teams.

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