With the college football season underway and the NFL starting Thursday, Delaware’s three casinos are starting to note an uptick in sports betting.
Delaware launched full sports betting in early June after the Supreme Court lifted a federal ban on all single-game bets outside of Nevada.
Since then through the fiscal month of July, sports wagering in Delaware grossed more than $1.3 million in net proceeds.
Delaware Lottery Director Vernon Kirk says baseball has been popular to bet on, but he adds there was a surge of bets last weekend with the start of college football.
“We saw a lot of activity this past weekend. We always do—preseason, exhibition games which people bet on, for some crazy reason, but this was the first weekend we ever had some college games and they were very, very popular,” said Kirk.
And while single game and prop bets on all sports are now available at Delaware casinos, parlay betting on football remains available at over 100 approved bars and other retail outlets statewide.
Kirk notes the addition of college games to the parlay cards has helped retain their popularity so far, despite the availability of single-game bets.
“There’s going to be a lot of college games played at the casinos, but also at the retail locations. Retailers have an opportunity to do parlay cards on Saturdays and Sundays, and it seems to be popular so far,” said Kirk.
He adds parlay betting is only down 10% so far this football season with the introduction of full-scale betting.
The parlay cards also no longer require bets on three separate games, but allow for side bets which can include multiple side bets on the same game.
The NFL regular season begins Thursday with a contest between the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons.
