Daily Racing Form Owner Now Bringing Retail Sportsbook to Iowa Sports Betting

The nation’s leading thoroughbred publication is bringing its first-ever retail sportsbook to Iowa.

Lakeside Hotel and Casino, which is based in Osceola, announced Monday that its first fully owned sportsbook, DRF Sportsbook, will join the Iowa sports betting market on March 3.

The new retail sportsbook is run by Lakeside’s sister company, the Daily Racing Form, and its online betting platform, DRF Bets.

Iowa is coming off a record month in January with a sports betting handle of $303.3 million.

The Racing Form, in a news release, termed itself “a leading provider of premium data and authoritative editorial coverage to sports and horse racing enthusiasts in North America.”

DRF Sportsbook will have a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 3 at 1 p.m. ET.

The new space will have two live teller windows with two self-service kiosks of more than 1,726 square feet. It also will have a video wall that is approximately 20 feet wide and can show up to eight live events.

James Zenni, the chairman of Affinity Interactive, which operates the Daily Racing Form, DRF Bets, DRF Sports and DRF Cash Grab, commented on the new initiative in a press release.

“The opening of the DRF Sportsbook is a significant event for Affinity Interactive’s expanding platform,” he said. “This opening advances our overall strategy towards becoming the prominent omnichannel gaming provider in the U.S.”

Affinity is a leader in the online gaming industry with an online betting presence and digital and media platforms and is closing in on a combined customer base of one million.

In addition to the online sportsbook, DRF Sports provides customers with exclusive, up-to-date sports betting stats, insights and analysis on all major U.S. sports and leagues.

DRF Went Online Last Month in Iowa

The announcement of the retail sportsbook comes after the late-January launch of DRF’s first mobile sportsbook in Iowa as well as the launch of DRF Cash Grab, a free-to-play mobile sports app in which users compete for individual contest cash prizes as well as overall monthly points.

“The launch of our first sportsbook is a significant event for Affinity Interactive and DRF as we continue our ambitious plans to deliver a world-class, digital sports betting product to sports fans across the U.S.," Itay Fisher, chief digital officer at Affinity, said in the Jan. 26 media release. "The sportsbook website and app launch represent our third major sports product rollout in recent months, and further illustrates our ambition and commitment to providing best-in-class sports betting products for customers.

“This is another important step as we continue to deliver on our pipeline of innovative offerings that will position us to grow our presence nationwide and take bets in every state."

That progress moves forward with today’s retail sportsbook.

Things are not looking that good on the Iowa online casinos side. We'll have to wait some time before online gambling goes live in the state.