Delaware casinos loving their early sports betting returns

Delaware’s legal sports betting market is off to a roaring start, with one of the state’s three casino sportsbooks emerging as the clear winner.

According to figures issued by the Delaware Lottery, total sports betting handle has hit just over $7m in the first 20 days after Gov. John Carney took the state’s first legal wager on June 5. Carney’s wager marked the first legal single-game wager outside Nevada following the US Supreme Court overturning the federal betting ban in May.

All told, the state’s three operators held $1m of the $7m wagered, for a win rate far in excess of the average 5% hold reported by most books. Scientific Games Corp, which already powered the Delaware Lottery’s parlay sports betting offering, reaped vendor fees of $125k from these winnings.

Carney made his inaugural wager at the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, which accounted for $1.18m of the state’s betting handle, while the Harrington Raceway took in wagers of just over $590k. But Delaware Park’s sportsbook was the clear wagering winner, handling bets of $5.23m and collecting the lion’s share ($653k) of the betting revenue.