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It’s easy to forget about Delaware. It’s one the smallest states — in both land mass and population. Worse, it gets lost in the shuffle of the Northeast, which is loaded with cities bigger than the entire state like Philadelphia, New York, and Washington (all of which have legal sports betting).
But hey, we certainly haven’t forgotten it. June was a big month in online betting for “The First State.” You’re going to want to keep reading to get the up-to-date metrics!
Delaware iGaming Revenue Smash Records
Seasonally, June is supposed to be a slow month in the world of betting. It’s certainly the case in sports betting, which has a lot less going on. But even casino play takes a dive as more and more people use their disposable income on summertime activities. Welp, Delaware didn’t get the memo.
June was actually a blowout month for Delaware — by their standards at least (not compared to other states). During the month, the iGaming arm reported $5,027,201 in revenues, an all-time high. This is the official number too, not an estimate, as it comes from the Delaware Lottery, which oversees all forms of betting inside the casino.
To add some color, Delaware has three different online casino operators — Delaware Park, Bally’s Dover, and Harrington Raceway & Casino. All three go through BetRivers, which has a monopoly on all betting stateside (more on that later). All three did their part in smashing the record:
- Delaware Park: $2,681,943
- Harrington Raceway & Casino: $1,438,319
- Bally’s Dover: $906,939
June’s record revenue of $5.02 million surpassed the previous record of $4.63 million — set in March 2023. As you can see, that’s about a 10 percent jump on the previous mark. Impressive if we do say so ourselves. Better yet, June’s number was almost 30 percent higher than in May, which brought in $3.9 million total.
But perhaps the best stat to level-set performance is year-over-year growth. In June of 2023, Gaming revenue was a measly $1.1 million. Seriously, that’s it. So we’re talking a 450-percent increase in a 12-month span. Bonkers!
One decision could be behind the increased numbers: changing operators. You see, last year, 888 had the exclusive license to manage betting in the state — Delaware only allows one operator. It didn’t do a good job, hence why the state switched to BetRivers instead (888 also left the country, which spurred the change, if we’re being fair). It’s safe to say switching operators was a smart move because business has picked up big time under BetRivers watch.
BetRivers Monopoly Will Be Unchanged (For Now)
Despite BetRivers resounding success so far, certain Delaware lawmakers wanted more. As in more operators, and hopefully, more revenue from them. Representative Frank Cooke floated bill HB 365, which would’ve had expanded the number of operators allowed to as much as seven (the three in-state casinos would’ve had two “skins” a piece).
That bill went nowhere though. After advancing from the House Administration Committee (not difficult), it went to House Appropriations on May 23. However, it sat there idly for 12 legislative days, which by state law, killed the bill on the spot.
In hindsight, it seems the tax rate was the big sticking point. As it stands, BetRivers has to share taxes with the state’s general fund, land-based partners (local horse tracks), and another boost to horse-racing purses. HB 165 was going to eliminate this structure and tax at a flat 18-percent rate (with horse racing governing bodies getting an additional 1.5 percent). That didn’t fly with some key stakeholders in the Blue Hen State.
And with that, BetRivers monopoly remained in tow for at least another year (its agreement with the state is until 2028). Delaware isn’t the only state with this single-operator model. Surprisingly, multiple states also feature something like this:
- Florida: Only the Seminole Tribe is allowed to offer casino and sports betting. This monopoly was reinforced in June when the Supreme Court chose not to hear a case arguing against it. With that choice, the Seminoles have a locked-in monopoly until 2051.
- Montana: All sports betting has to be done through Sports Bet Montana. The online app has been universally panned by bettors for its user experience. We guess that’s what you get when a body like Montana Lottery Sports Bet runs the app, not a tech company like some operators.
- New Hampshire: DraftKings has the only license allowed in the state — though they are taxed at 51 percent. This high rate was the basis for New York copying it, albeit with a more free market of seven operators.
- Oregon: The Oregon Lottery also runs the system here. They too partnered with DraftKings to be the one and only operator in the state.
- Rhode Island: Rhode Island Lottery partnered with IGT and Williams Hill to create the Sportsbook Rhode Island. Online bets can only be had there, though the state has two in-person casinos that take in sports wagers too.
Of course, Delaware bettors can always pick an offshore sportsbook to do their sports gambling. We’d argue this is actually the best way for sports betting in Delaware because the apps work just as well, if not better, than BetRivers. We recommend looking into the following offshore apps:
