Iowa bill makes proxy betting, account sharing in Iowa a crime

Posted by author February 13, 2025 Sports

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Iowa law enforcement would be able to charge a person who uses proxy betting or shares sports betting account access under a set of bills moving through the Iowa House and Senate.

Companion legislation Senate Study Bill 1097 and House Study Bill 21 would allow law enforcement to arrest an individual who shares their account or is a proxy for a prohibited gambler. The Department of Public Safety says the act of proxy betting and account sharing is already illegal in Iowa via administrative code, and the bill would criminalize the act.

Josie Wagler, a lobbyist for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said the bill aims to clean up Iowa law and bring it up to speed with the landscape of sports wagering. The Department of Public Safety introduced the bills.

“This, I don’t think is really any different than if, you know, there’s a person who supplies alcohol to a minor. There’s a penalty for doing so because the drinking age is 21. Same with this bill, the age of placing a sports wagering bet is 21,” Wagler said.

The bill adds the definitions of “account sharing” and “proxy betting” under illegal gaming in Iowa Code.

The act of proxy betting and account sharing would violate Iowa Code section 725.7. Someone who commits illegal gaming gambling of amounts over $500 is a class D felony for a first offense, which is punishable up to five years in prison and fines of at least $1,025.

Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2019 signed a law allowing Iowans who are 21 or older to bet on fantasy sports through popular online sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings and legalized of-age Iowans to wager on college and professional sports.

Iowans wagered over $2.8 billion on sporting events in 2024, a 14% increase since 2023, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission reported.

While legislators said the new bills weren’t influenced by the 2023 state investigation of more than two dozen University of Iowa and Iowa State University student-athletes for illegal sports betting, lawmakers, including Wednesday’s subcommittee chair Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, have called for stronger state sports betting laws.

What do Iowa lawmakers think about the bill?

While the Senate bill advanced out of subcommittee Wednesday, lawmakers were at a crossroads when discussing its necessity.

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, who voted against the bill, said there needs to be more prevention strategies put in place instead of criminal penalties.

“This legislation puts all the heavy price on Iowans when clearly the safeguards on the front end from the companies that can afford to put safeguards in place, they’re clearly not doing it,” Petersen said. “DCI cannot really explain how this would be investigated … “

Dawson said the legislation is important because it allows police to enforce a rule that is already put in place.

“The thought can’t be out there, ‘Well, we ban people from casinos but we’re not going to really enforce it.’ ‘We banned minors from gambling and we’re not really going to enforce it’ and we put all of the onus on the casinos,'” Dawson said.

He said if sports betting is going to remain legal in Iowa, then rules have to “meet the letter of the law.”

Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at sabine.martin@gannett.com or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.