Delaware sports betting generates $7m handle in first three weeks
Delaware Lottery director Vernon Kirk said the figure was higher than expected, with 75% of wagers placed on baseball
Delaware generated revenues of $1m in the first three weeks of single game sports betting, according to new figures from the DE Lottery.
The state received $7m in total bets in the 20 days between June 5 and Jun 24, holding around 14% of that handle.
There were just under 70,000 wagers placed during the timeframe.
Approximately 12% of the revenue went to the state’s sports betting suppliers, including Scientific Games, William Hill and GVC’s StadiumTech.
Of the remaining revenue, the state itself keeps 50%, with 10% going to horseracing and the casinos keeping 40%.
“I’m glad that this started when it did, at a time when there aren’t a lot of sports to bet on, because they have some kinks to work out,” said Bessie Gruwell, executive director of the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
“They shut down at 11 p.m., so they had to, on one occasion, turn everyone away in the middle of one of the NBA finals game. There’s also been long lines. But, hopefully, they should have everything working much better by the time the NFL and college football games start. If they do, and with the popularity of those sports, I would imagine that [revenue] figure would grow quite a bit.”
Delaware Park was the busiest of the state’s three casinos, with just over $5m in handle, ahead of Dover Downs with $1.1m and Harrington Raceway with $590,000.
Delaware Park is the best situated of the three to capitalize on out-of-state bettors.
Delaware Lottery director, Vernon Kirk, said the revenue figure was higher than expected, with around 75% of wagers placed on baseball and a “few hundred thousand” placed no futures.