Online sports betting a boon to state
Online sports betting came to Delaware at the end of 2023 and has been raking in the dough ever since.
“We’re very happy with these numbers, and we feel that we have the right partner,” said Helene Keeley, director of the Delaware State Lottery, which in August 2023 chose Rush Street Interactive Inc., parent company of BetRivers, as the vendor for Delaware’s online gaming business.
Just four days after sports betting went online, Keeley said wagering increased $700,000.
For the first six months of fiscal year 2025, sports betting brought in $121.2 million compared to the first six months of fiscal year 2024, which posted $8.8 million.
“People have the ability to choose which way they place their bet,” Keeley said. “Tracks are still taking bets at their facilities, but it’s not as significant as it was before the online option became available.”
With the online option, bettors no longer have to physically go to one of the three casino tracks to place bets – Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway and Dover Downs Hotel and Casino – but they still choose a casino on the app to place their online bets, she said.
Bettors also have the ability to place a single bet through the app, she said, not just the parlay cards offered at the casinos.
A steady stream of commercials has helped promote the app.
“Pretty much every local cable channel, you can see our ads at some point in time during the day,” Keeley said.
But she said they are cognizant of gambling addiction, and messaging to help those with gambling problems is also promoted.
“We don’t want to bombard people with ads, we don’t want to push people into spending more than what their wallet allows them to do, and I think we’re doing it in a conservative and thoughtful manner that allows them to enjoy the game and not overextend themselves,” Keeley said.
Delaware’s contract with BetRivers is for five years, renewable for additional one-year terms for five years pending regulatory approvals, according to Rush Street in an earlier story. BetRivers is one of RSI’s brands, which include PlaySugarHouse and RushBet. It currently offers real-money mobile and online operations in 15 states: Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Delaware, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Iowa, West Virginia, Arizona and Louisiana, and internationally in Ontario, Canada, and Colombia and Mexico.
For nearly a decade starting in 2009, Delaware was the only state east of the Mississippi to offer parlay betting on NFL games – an opportunity grandfathered by the U.S. Supreme Court because Delaware law in the 1970s allowed for a brief sports lottery. Nevada was the only other state to offer full-scale gambling during that time.
But by 2018, that changed with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened up full-scale betting for all states. Delaware took advantage early to offer expanded wagering, but neighboring states soon caught up and surpassed Delaware with online betting options.
Delaware currently offers video poker, roulette and blackjack table games from 888 and slot machine games from 888, SG, NextGen and Lightning Box.
