Delaware Casinos Post Great Numbers For First 20 Days of Legal Sports Betting
Published July 10, 2018 by Elana K
Within the first 20 days of Delaware making sports betting legal, state casinos reported over $7 million in sports wagers. Of the $7 million in revenue, the state took in approximately $875,000, a figure higher than the state lottery anticipated.
If any state is considering legalizing sports betting, here’s some encouragement: Within the first 20 days of Delaware making sports betting legal, state casinos reported over $7 million in sports wagers. Of the $7 million in revenue, the state took in approximately $875,000, a figure higher than the state lottery anticipated.
Following the repeal of PASPA by the Supreme Court in May 2018, Delaware passed official sports betting legislation in early June, becoming the first state outside Nevada to offer legal sports betting.
Delaware Was Well-Prepared
According to Delaware Lottery Games director Vernon Kirk, at one point during the 20-day period, casinos felt overwhelmed by all the bets being placed. Other than that, he feels the new endeavor went fairly smoothly, largely due to the fact that Delaware had offered NFL parlay tickets since 2009. Parlay tickets allow bets to be placed on the combined outcome of multiple games; and multi-game bets, as opposed to single-game bets, were allowed under PASPA.
Because Delaware already had one foot in the door, the state was able to handle its popular new enterprise with aplomb.
Delaware Park Dominates
Delaware Park took in over 50,000 sports bets (out of some 70,000 in total), amounting to approximately $5.2 million. Dover Downs came in second with $1.2 million in bets, while Harrington Raceway saw nearly $600,000.
However, don’t confuse these numbers with the actual revenue these racinos saw; from $7 million in bets, the actual revenue came to $1 million (a 14% profit margin, and considered very high in the industry).
Breakdown of Revenue
From all the money that came in, $125,000 was paid off the top to Delaware’s sports betting suppliers; mainly Scientific Games. After that, 10% of the remaining revenue went to horse racing purses and the state got a whopping 50%, leaving 40% to be split between Delaware’s three casinos.
Actual casino revenue came to approximately $260,000 for Delaware Park, $57,000 for Dover Downs, and $31,000 for Harrington.
Still, the numbers are impressive for the state's launch, and the hope is that by the time NFL season starts, Delaware's mobile sports betting system will be up and running.
