FanDuel Fined $95,000 in Iowa for Illegal Bets on Soccer Referee Cards and Filipino Basketball
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission handed FanDuel a $95,000 fine at its July meeting for offering wagers not permitted under Iowa law. IRGC administrator Tina Eick said the operator was penalized for two distinct violations — one involving soccer referee-card props, the other for accepting bets on unauthorized Filipino basketball. Both were repeat offenses, and the commission "wanted to send a strong message."
What FanDuel was fined for
Two violations, per Eick's remarks to Radio Iowa:
- Soccer referee cards. FanDuel offered yellow-card and red-card prop bets on soccer matches. Iowa law prohibits wagering on decisions made by umpires or referees. "You can't wager on decisions made by an umpire or referee in the state, and so one of their counts involved a case where they offered wagers on yellow and red cards and soccer," Eick said.
- Filipino basketball league. FanDuel accepted bets on a Filipino basketball league that is not on Iowa's approved-events list. IRGC only authorizes wagering on specific leagues and tournaments; anything outside that list is a violation. Eick called this the second count.
Both categories had prior FanDuel violations in the past year. That escalation drove the $95,000 penalty. "FanDuel had previous violations, unfortunately, in both of those areas," Eick said. "And the commission wanted to send a strong message that they take those compliance issues very seriously. And so they issued the $95,000 fine."
What Iowa doesn't allow
This fine is a useful reminder of Iowa's specific prop-bet restrictions. IRGC bans:
- Wagers determined by a single player in a single play. Integrity risk — a single player can manipulate a single play. Eick: "Particularly wagers that are determinable by one player in one play. Those just are integrity issues and have the potential for manipulation, and so we steer clear of those."
- Wagers on referee or umpire decisions. Yellow and red cards in soccer, ball/strike calls in baseball, targeting reviews in football — off-limits because the outcome depends on an official's judgment.
- Wagers on unauthorized leagues. IRGC maintains an approved-events list. Filipino basketball is not on it. Neither are most non-US minor leagues.
- Wagers on minor league games. Iowa bettors cannot bet on the Iowa Cubs (the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A affiliate). Eick called out the I-Cubs example as "somewhat analogous" to the Filipino basketball violation.
By contrast, Iowa is more permissive than most states on major-market props — full college player prop markets are allowed, including on the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones. See our Iowa Betting Laws page for the complete regulatory picture.
Why the commission escalated
The $95,000 fine is significant but not existential for FanDuel — the operator's Iowa online handle was $47.7 million in May 2026 alone (see our May 2026 revenue report). The penalty represents roughly 0.02% of a single month's handle. What matters is the signal: the IRGC is willing to keep escalating penalties for repeat compliance failures.
For bettors, this is also a reminder that the licensed Iowa sportsbooks are actively supervised. Offshore operators face no such enforcement, which is one of many reasons to stick to the 17 IRGC-licensed books.
Fiscal year 2026 in context
The same commission meeting also reported year-end figures for Iowa fiscal year 2026 (ending June 30, 2026):
| Sports betting revenue growth (YoY) | ~15% higher than FY 2025 |
|---|---|
| Total sports wagering revenue (FY 2026) | Nearly $285 million |
| Total casino revenue (FY 2026) | $1.7 billion (+1.3% vs FY 2025) |
| Total casino + sports tax to state | Over $331 million |
Football continues to dominate handle. Eick's summary: "Football is king for sports wagering. That drives the numbers year in and year out. Lots of interest with March Madness as well. But again, football is king."
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which began before the fiscal year closed, drove incremental soccer betting that Iowa does not typically see in off-World-Cup years. That timing gave FY 2026 a modest soccer boost that FY 2027 is unlikely to repeat.
What bettors should know
- Stick to licensed operators. Offshore sites can offer whatever markets they want with zero consumer protection. Use only the 17 IRGC-licensed sportsbooks ranked on this site.
- If a market appears on one app but not another, there's often a reason. Iowa's approved-events list is per-operator to enforce. Books that stray get fined — see FanDuel above.
- Referee-decision props exist in other states. If you have placed yellow-card or red-card bets before, it was probably outside Iowa. They are common in the UK and in a handful of US states — but not here.
- Report violations to IRGC. Suspicious markets can be reported at irgc.iowa.gov. That's how many of these compliance issues surface.
Source: Radio Iowa, "Sports betting company fined for allowing Iowa bets on soccer referee cards" by Dar Danielson, August 3, 2026. Additional context from the July 2026 Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission meeting.