Delaware has joined the list of states offering legal single-game sports betting, a club that until Tuesday consisted entirely of Nevada.
On Tuesday afternoon shortly after 1:30pm, Delaware Gov. John Carney strode up to the new sportsbook at the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino to place the state’s inaugural single-game wager, a $10 punt on the Philadelphia Phillies (he’s from Philly) to beat the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Following Carney’s ceremonial wager, Dover Downs opened up action to other patrons, and similar scenes played out at the state’s two other authorized sports betting venues, the Delaware Park racino and the Harrington Raceway & Casino. Online wagering is expected to follow the land-based bets, but there’s no timeline for that.
Oddly enough, you must be 21 years old to place a sports wager in Delaware, while the state allows adults as young as 18 to place race betting wagers. Clearly, there is nothing US governments won’t do to prop up the dying racing industry. But we digress…
Delaware had previously offered an NFL-only parlay wagering product through the Delaware Lottery, as permitted under the federal PASPA betting prohibition that was struck down last month by the US Supreme Court. Two days later, Delaware officials announced that there were “no legal obstacles” to proceeding with single-game wagering, and here we are.
None of the state’s three casino operators are expecting a major revenue windfall from sports betting, in part because the product is expected to be similarly legal in neighboring states in the near future. That includes New Jersey, which led the charge to overturn PASPA and had hoped to be the first state out of the gate with legal betting.
New Jersey legislators are expected to approve their new sports betting legislation on Thursday, and Gov. Phil Murphy could sign it into law on Friday, paving the way for Monmouth Park racetrack, Atlantic City’s Borgata casino and other gaming operators to offer wagers later that same day. However, Murphy has until June 30 to sign the law and it’s unclear how urgently he views the situation now that the chance to be ‘first’ has past.
Across Delaware’s other border in Pennsylvania, interest in the state’s new sports betting licenses has reportedly been softer than expected. As in, nonexistent. Last Thursday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) formally invited the state’s casino operators to submit their betting license applications but Philly.com reported Monday that no applications had been filed to date.
The lack of enthusiasm in Pennsylvania compared to New Jersey is due to the state’s insistence of a $10m application fee, plus the not insignificant question of the state’s punitive 36% tax on sports betting revenue. By way of comparison, New Jersey sportsbooks will pay 8.5% (13% online) while Nevada sportsbooks pay only 6.75%. Cue that Sesame Street song about ‘one of these things is not like the others…’
