Delaware's Month Exemplifies the Challenges of Smaller Jurisdictions

Delaware had an odd month.

Revenue Drop

After a strong September, online gambling revenue at one of the US states where gambling is legal fell 36% to $246,092 in October for the lowest showing of the year.

Dover Downs Leads Decline

A sharp month-on-month revenue decline at Dover Downs is the driver of Delaware's drop.

Surprising Since September

The swing was somewhat surprising when taking into account the fact that September's $384,830 was the highest monthly total so far for 2019.

Total Spend

As far as total spend, players in Delaware spent a total of $9.4m on iGaming in October, dropping from September's $11.8m.

Leading Verticals

The primary source of revenue in Delaware is video lottery, bringing in $184,224. Second highest contributor was table games at $40,428, down from September's $171,156. Poker rake and fee revenue stayed relatively stable month-on-month at $21,439.

Players won a total of $9.6m, including $6.4m from table games and $3.2m from video lottery.

Leading Venues

Delaware Park led individual venue takes with $126,126 in October revenue, down slightly from the previous month. The players spent much less, halving from $7.0m in September to $3.4m.

Harrington Raceway followed with revenue of $77,171 for the month from a total consumer spend of $1.1m. These totals were up from September's $60,043 in revenue and a handle of $957,009.

Dover Down Impact

The Dover Downs slip accentuated the pace of fluctuation, with individual revenue slipping from first place in September to last in October, driven primarily by a $6,726 loss in online table games, down from the previous month's revenue of $119,648.

Yearly Totals to Date

The year totals so far through October have brought in total iGaming revenue for Delaware of $2.93m, with consumers having spent $106.3m in the process.

Outlook

The October results epitomize how a small state can be subject to fluctuations, but there is no reason to believe that pressing forward with a steady effort cannot show corrections for the remainder of the year.