Delaware sports betting beats revenue projection

The first three months of sports betting has added more than expected to the State of Delaware’s coffers. Delaware has made just over 830 thousand dollars on NFL parlay bets in the 12 weeks since it launched the only legal sports betting east of the Mississippi River.

The first three months of sports betting has added more than expected to the State of Delaware’s coffers.  Delaware has made just over 830 thousand dollars on NFL parlay bets in the 12 weeks since it launched the only legal sports betting east of the Mississippi River.  That’s well above the 500 thousand dollars the state was projected make this year on sports betting by the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council.

Delaware’s take, after paying winners and for the cost of operating the games, comes out to just over 69 thousand dollars per week.

“The numbers speak for themselves.” said Tom Cook, Delaware acting Secretary of Finance.

There had been concern that the state’s bottom line would suffer because of losses in week 7 of the NFL season, when 11 of 13 favorites won and covered the spread, leading to huge payouts to winners.  Delaware lost just over 300 thousand dollars because of that week, but bounced back, earning nearly 646 thousand dollars in the last four weeks of November.

“That was one of the worst weeks in the history of sports betting.”  said Cook.  “For us to come back from that, we had to have the game grow week by week, and it has done that.  It’s been a positive.  It shows that there is a demand in this region for this type of entertainment.”

Since its launch in September, bettors have placed 470,726 wagers worth 6.7 million dollars, with the number of bets and amount of money wagered reach rising every week except one.

Cook also sees continued evidence that sports betting is having a crossover impact on slots and other video lottery games at the state’s three racinos, Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway.

Before sports betting started, Cook says net proceeds from video lottery games at the three racinos were down a combined 5.72 percent from the same period last year.  With sports betting, that dip slowed.  From September through November, video lottery proceeds were down just over one percent compared to the same time last fall.  That has left the three tracks down 3.36 percent for the year to date.

“Overall, where other states and jurisdictions have 14 percent and 7 percent declines, sports lottery has minimized or mitigated the impact the economy has had overall on the gaming industry.” Cook said. “The number of wagers that have been placed week over week is a strong indication that,  that means more people have even come in and are being exposed to our product, all of our products.”

Delaware will continue to offer sports betting through the AFC and NFC championship games on January 24th.