Delaware

Delaware made history when it comes to sports betting as they became the first state outside of Nevada to legalize it back in 2018. However, it wasn’t until January 3, 2024, that sports betting launched in mobile form, as for the five years prior, bettors were limited to strictly retail betting.

Delaware sports bettors can wager on both professional and collegiate sports, whether in a retail or online setting. The only stipulation regarding the NCAA is that bettors cannot wager on colleges located within the state.

Outside of betting on sports like football and basketball, residents can also wager on horse racing. The ability to use daily fantasy sports sites is also legal in the state and was allowed far before mobile betting was offered.

Online sports betting in The First State

When the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018, Delaware was the first state to legalize sports betting. In fact, the state did not need to pass any bills to do so, as it had already passed HB 100 in 2009, which allowed sports betting through the state’s lottery.

The state claimed it had a parlay product exempt from PASPA and had been around since 1976, in which case it should be able to expand its betting operations. Despite this claim, the state was not allowed to expand operations despite the bill being passed, so when PASPA was overturned, DE argued it already had legislation to offer sports betting to its residents.

Since sports betting was legalized in DE, the state has been in an exclusive contract with 888 Holdings, which owns William Hill. While betting was legal, it was only available through three retail locations, as many regulators in the state remained against the idea of fully expanding sports betting.

The state’s contract with 888 Holdings ended in 2023, and after negotiations, DE would enter into a new contract agreement with Rush Street Interactive, which owns and operates the BetRivers Sportsbook. With the signing of this new exclusive contract, bettors in Delaware finally got mobile betting through the BetRivers mobile app on January 3, 2024.

Each state operates differently regarding licenses and allowed operators, but most states that legalize sports betting usually offer a multitude of online betting apps. Due to the structuring of the state’s sports betting bill, though, BetRivers will be the only mobile app available for the foreseeable future.

All legal DE sports betting apps in 2024:

Sports betting & gambling legislation in DE

With sports betting now available in retail and mobile formats, the state has needed to implement more restrictions for bettors. The Delaware State Lottery Office enforces all of these restrictions.

DE residents must be at least 21 to place a legal sports wager. However, they must be at least 18 to partake in daily fantasy sports. A mobile betting account on the BetRivers Sportsbook can be created anywhere within the state lines of DE, so remote registration is available.

It is important to note that even with that, bettors must be within those state lines to play a legal wager in the state. All bettors in the state are subject to a tax rate of either 2.2% or 6.6% on their winnings, and that number will depend on their income. All winnings over $5,000 are taxed at 24% regardless of income.

Delaware does offer some additional gambling markets to residents in the state outside of sports betting. For example, both online casinos and online poker are fully available, and unsurprisingly, with who the governing body of gambling is, Delaware also offers a lottery.

Most recent updates from the DE sports betting scene

• October 2, 2024: The Delaware Blue Hens will put their 4-0 record on the line this weekend when they head on the road to Monmouth.

• September 18, 2024: Through two games, the Delaware Blue Hens are averaging 45 points per game. They will put their 2-0 record on the line this weekend against the Penn Quakers.

• September 11, 2024: In their second game of the season, the Delaware Blue Hens will head on the road to play North Carolina A&T.

• August 26, 2024: While they didn't win their week zero game against Hawaii, Delaware State did cover the spread as underdogs.

• August 19, 2024: Delaware State is one of the few teams playing in week zero in college football, as they will take on Hawaii, in a game where they are (+38) point underdogs on DK.

• July 2, 2024: Without receiving any action after passing the House Administration Committee, HB 365 will not become a law, therefore keeping the DE sports betting market as is.

• May 26, 2024: HB 365, which would expand the Delaware online sports betting bill, has passed the Delaware General Assembly's House Administration Committee.

• April 11, 2024: Rep. Franklin Cooke and Rep. William Bush have introduced HB 365, which was created to expand the mobile betting market in Delaware. The bill would allow casinos to partner with multiple online operators, allowing competition within the market.

• December 28, 2023: Mobile sports betting is now live in Delaware after five years of strictly retail betting allowed. BetRivers Sportsbook will become the first online operator to launch in the state on January 3, 2024.

• December 10, 2023: A Delaware House working group recommends expanding online sports betting to compete with the growing trend. Currently, Delaware is limited to land-based sports gambling, which contrasts with the significant portion of bets being placed online nationwide.

In-person sports betting sites and locations

There are three racinos in Delaware that the Delaware Lottery regulates. Each of them has its own individual owners, but the lottery ensures each place offers the same betting menu. All online casino wagering through each location is now done through BetRivers.

Each location was prominent in the state long before sports betting came into the picture, as horse racing has been a big deal in Delaware for decades. In addition to sports betting, each location also has racebooks for residents who want to try betting on horses instead of sports

Sports betting in neighboring states

Sports betting has been active online and in retail settings in states surrounding DE for quite some time. Atlantic City, New Jersey, is just one state over from Delaware, so if in-state bettors want to change their retail betting location, they are not far from an entire strip of casinos.

To learn more about what Delaware’s surrounding states have to offer in terms of mobile sportsbooks and other related services, click on the state in the box below.

Sports betting revenue impact on Delaware’s economy

Despite only having retail betting until recently, Delaware has habitually produced at least $100 million in sports betting revenue a year. While the state may not have a wide range of operators available, with how the tax system is set up, they typically do well regarding tax revenue. Sports betting revenues for operators in the state have a tax rate of 50% for both retail and online. The effective tax in the state comes in at 51.4%.

The way licensing works in Delaware is that all three state casinos share a yearly licensing fee of $4.5 million, but that license is not strictly for sports betting. The amount each casino pays is based on their share of the video lottery market. No one outside these three casinos can apply for an individual license or for the ability to join this joint license.

Depending on the season, the overall handle and revenue the state makes vary by month, which can be seen below, but the true question is how much more the state will be pulling in a month now that it offers mobile betting.

Delaware sports betting record months:

• Sports betting handle: November 2018 ($24,206,090)

• Revenue: November 2020 ($8,162,861)

• Tax income: November 2020 ($5,018,419)

DE sports betting revenue in 2024

We have gathered all DE sports betting handle, revenue, and state tax income data from 2024 in the following table. The percentage featured in the first two columns indicates the change compared to the previous month.

Yearly revenue data