Delaware’s struggling online gambling market got a serious boost in September, posting a new monthly record for gaming revenue.
According to data published by the Delaware Lottery (which oversees the state’s gaming operations), the state’s three racinos – Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway – generated combined online gambling revenue of just over $337k in September, nearly twice the $170,763 generated in the same month last year.
The sum is by far the highest monthly total recorded in 2018 and handily surpassed the state’s previous high-water mark of $304,874 set in June 2016. September’s table games revenue was up more than threefold to $101,882 while video lottery terminal revenue improved by nearly three-quarters to $213,665. Even poker got into the spirit, rising from $18,842 to $21,464.
Interestingly, the gains came largely from the racinos’ gambling sites playing extremely lucky, as overall online table game turnover was less than half September 2017’s total, while VLT handle was up a respectable but hardly earth-shattering 13.3% year-on-year.
All three Delaware operators reported robust year-on-year gains in September, led by Delaware Park’s $171,480 (+96%). Dover Downs more than doubled its monthly haul to $127,560 while Harrington Raceway’s $37,971 represented a 91.4% annual improvement.
We’d love to credit Delaware’s September gains to online gamblers coming for the state’s new legal sports betting options and sticking around to play a few table games, except none of the state’s racinos has yet to launch its online single-game wagering operations.
But while we’re speaking of sportsbooks, the first weekend of on-site sports betting at the Dover International Speedway NASCAR racetrack saw nearly 3,000 bets worth $17,800 placed at the temporary ‘FanZone’ wagering tent erected at the track to take advantage of last weekend’s dual race events. Yahoo Sports reported that this sum represented less than 3% of the $601,700 wagered at Dover Downs last week.
