Pessimism Lurks in Delaware’s Gambling Domain as Revenues Drop

Delaware's future grim with all-time low as online gambling site revenues plunge just a year after legalizing it.

Amidst violent opposition from major sports leagues in the US and the National Collegiate Athletic Association 6 years ago Delaware state government managed to raise more tax revenues by authorizing sports betting in the state at that time.

By revising the bill in 1999 and again also by legalizing online betting under the jurisdiction of American gambling laws, Delaware had hoped to get all of the first $3.75 million in revenue each operator was projected to generate. However, the state managed to get less than the $5 million in revenue during its first fiscal year.

Just a little over 5 years later, in 2013, online sportsbetting was introduced. The Delaware government hoped that if the operators could manage to encourage people into even betting when abroad, this would boost revenues through online gambling activities.

Dismal online gaming revenues in Delaware

However despite these initial efforts, even at the end of the third quarter and going over to October 2014, online gambling revenue in the state of Delaware continues to drop. Only 315 players registered between Delaware’s three operators during this period.

The dismal earnings were reflected for example in the Delaware Lottery reports whereby they reaped only $130,468 in winnings in on year. A year ago they had made $111,387, so higher earnings were expected in the third quarter of 2014.

Among the gambling companies that encourage people to play online poker in the US, Delaware online casinos only managed to scrape in $28,509. Even if their best profit was that of last December when they managed to collect $106,900 in profits Delaware still has to attain its highest standing revenue which was $240,762 in April 2014.