Delaware iGaming Shows Monthly Increases, Annual Decreases

Elana K. - October 9, 2015

Industry

August 2015 was the best month this year for Delaware's online gaming; unfortunately, it wasn't as good as August of last year.

This past August saw the rise of Delaware online gambling numbers, something that has not occurred in three months prior. Revenue increased for both poker and online gambling in general, making August the best month Delaware has seen in 2015.

Compared to the total gaming revenue from July 2015, August’s online gambling revenue increased by 12%, hitting the mark of $159,000. Revenue from poker increased by 10%, accounting for approximately $31,200 of Delaware’s total online gambling revenue.

Last Year Was Better

While revenue from online gambling hit its pinnacle in August 2015, numbers are down when compared to 2014 profits. In fact, Delaware’s online poker revenue has declined by 20% between 2015 and 2014, and online gambling in general is down by 8%.

Delaware was the first state (out of three) to take the plunge and legalize online gambling. Since then, however, the state has struggled with low traffic and low revenue. Delaware shares a player base with WSOP in Nevada, but even the combined poker room has not helped Delaware’s figures.

Who’s Running the Show?

There are three racetracks running Delaware’s internet gambling sites: Delaware Park, Harrington and Dover Downs. Delaware Park is the largest operator, bringing in approximately 70% of online poker revenues. All racetracks feed into the same online poker room, but the revenues are collected based on the portal players enter the network from.

New Jersey Also Struggles

New Jersey has been experiencing a similar situation to that of Delaware, which is even more troubling, since New Jersey has a much larger player base. New Jersey too has been showing monthly increases in 2015 - but even these increases are less than the overall profit from 2014.

In August, New Jersey’s online poker revenue was up 5% from July - but when compared to August 2014, the numbers were down by a startling 12%.

This by no means indicates the end of online gambling in either state - it just means that online operators and regulators need to find different ways of reaching the potential they envisioned in the first place.