2015 marks the seventh season gamblers can legally place parlay wagers on NFL games in Delaware and when the state started taking bets again Wednesday, officials were hoping Delaware could continue to cash in at the rate it has in recent years.
The Delaware Lottery oversees sports betting. Lottery director Vernon Kirk says it continues to grow even as other casino gambling revenues shrink.
“I think it’s been a huge success and I think the handle or sales certainly bear that out. We’ve increased our sales every year, said Kirk.
The last two seasons have been the First State’s best in terms of making money off NFL wagering. About 2.7 million bets were made last year with nearly $38 million wagered. After paying off winners and giving the casinos and retail outlets their shares, Delaware added $6.7 million to its bottom line. In 2013, sports betting put $5.6 million in the state’s coffers.
Kirk says the state would like to stay in that $5-to-7 million range, but it may be unreasonable to expect year after year.
“Last couple of years, not only did the sales go up, but the state was lucky in the outcome of a handful of games too that made a significant difference," said Kirk. "With the added sales comes an added liability, but we were pretty lucky and it’s a little higher than what you might consider to the mathematical norm for that amount of handle.”
The state’s sports betting numbers have gotten a big boost from allowing of retail outlets to take bets starting in 2012. The number of wagers made at convenience stores and bars out-paced wagering at Delaware’s three casinos in 2013 and 2014, and brought the state more revenue than betting at Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway combined. 3.9 million of the state’s take a year ago came from betting at about 80 retail outlets, while the casinos combined to send the state $2.8 million.
Kirk says the betting at retail locations has surpassed initial projections.
“It really did. It was a bit of an unknown, but we all thought it would do well, but we weren’t quite sure it would do this well and I have to say it has exceeded our expectations," said Kirk.
Another 20 retail outlets have signed on to offer sports betting this year, putting the total number up to around 100 across the state. Kirk says they feel they have good coverage of the state with retail outlets right now, but he isn't closing the door of allowing more venues to offer sports betting.
"I anticipate we could add a few more for sure. I don't know how many, We've expanded pretty quickly," said Kirk. "We may slow down a little bit, but I think there's room for a few more."
Meanwhile, only one of the state's casinos appears to be benefiting much from sports betting. In each of past four years, the lion's share of revenue earned by casinos from football betting has been at Delaware Park. The Stanton race track has accounted for well over half of that revenue in those four years, including $1.6 million of the $2.24 million earned by the three racinos last year and $1.65 million of the $2.25 the three split in 2013.
"70 percent of the population is in New Castle County and I think that would account for a lot of Delaware Park's success," said Kirk. "And their location is such that they also pull in a lot of players from across the border."
Delaware has offered parlay betting on NFL games since 2009 and remains the only state east of the Mississippi where sports betting of any kind is legal.
