Delaware’s nascent mobile sports betting market saw an impressive surge in activity while its iGaming revenues also soared in March.
Business is Booming
Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers took over the state’s iGaming platform from 888 Holdings after its five-year contract terminated last year but it wasn’t until December that the company launched its online casino platform.
In addition, BetRivers also launched its mobile sportsbook at the beginning of January 2024, something that 888 Holdings never did, preferring to focus solely on iGaming. The only sports betting activity in Delaware before BetRivers commenced operations of its digital betting site was generated by retail sportsbooks.
Now that BetRivers’ mobile sportsbook and iGaming platforms are up and running, March has told the tale of a lucrative gaming month in both sectors. The sports betting handle this March naturally towered above the retail-only market from March 2023 generating just $3.5 million compared to the $18.5 million in March 2024, thanks to the significant boost of the digital sports betting market.
Sports betting revenue hit $1 million in March which was an 89% year-over-year increase. The three land-based gambling facilities tethered to the BetRivers sportsbook app had the following handles and revenues:
- Delaware Park – $13.1 million handle – $681,548 revenue
- Harrington Raceway – $3.3 million – $176,583 revenue
- Bally’s Dover – $1.5 million – $113,692 revenue
Retail sports betting revenue for March contributed just over $58,000 from retailers throughout the state.
What a Difference a Year Makes
Many Delaware residents were unimpressed by the state’s only online casino offering, 888 Casino, whose tenure lasted for five years. But BetRivers’ iGaming platform has done exceptionally well since taking the helm as evidenced by March’s staggering year-over-year handle increase of 227.3% ($136 million) and the 228.6% year-over-year revenue increase ($4.6 million).
BetRivers’ three iGaming partners revealed the following revenues:
- Delaware Park – $2 million revenue
- Harrington Raceway – $1.6 million revenue
- Bally’s Dover – $951,096 revenue
March Madness Bump
Of the 761,000 bets placed in Delaware in March, 605,000 were wagered via a digital device, representing nearly 80% of the total via online sports betting. That percentage is rather low considering the industry average is well above 90%, but some of that can be attributed to college hoops fans seeking out land-based sportsbooks to enjoy the litany of conference tournament games and March Madness showdowns that the month had to offer.
There were 150,000 more bets placed in March than the previous month and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. Delaware Lottery Director Helene Keeley explains, “We definitely saw the spike up and then obviously on Monday it would go back down after the Sunday night games, and then obviously like Wednesday, Thursday morning during March Madness it would come back up as soon as the games were scheduled to start playing that day or that evening and we definitely saw the increase.”
Director Keeley is also a vocal proponent of the one-platform system in Delaware, stating, “It’s something that the customers wanted, and it’s something the casinos wanted. They wanted that one platform where a customer could say okay let me place a bet because this is what I want to do, but let me go back over and play some blackjack and that’s exactly what they have the ability to do on one app.”
