Delaware lawmakers saw adding up to six online sportsbooks as a good thing. More money from bettors. More money for the state.
But the current participants say it’s all wishful thinking.
Rush Street Interactive (RSI), which owns BetRivers, and the Delaware Lottery oppose HB 365.
Multiple sponsors of the bill did not reply to LSR requests for comment, though Reps. Frank Cooke and William Bush released a joint statement following the bill’s introduction:
“It’s important that Delaware remains competitive and responsive to the preferences of its residents,” Bush said. “By providing Delawareans with a larger mobile sports wagering market, similar to those thriving in neighboring states, we can level the playing field and bring in a new source of revenue for our state.”
Not a chance, according to Rush Street. RSI invested substantial amounts of time and money to produce an outstanding product for the Lottery and Delawareans.
Delaware’s online gross gaming revenue in March alone was 300 percent greater than the previous all-time high over a ten-year period.
More operators would not grow the pie. Just the opposite, Helene Keeley, the executive director of the Delaware Lottery, told LSR.
“The Delaware Lottery’s job is to maximize state revenues,” Keeley said. “HB 365 would reduce State revenues, negatively impact the State’s equine and agricultural industries, and exacerbate problem gambling by significantly increasing ‘free’ bets and promotions.”
Cooke filed to put together a legislative study group on Delaware sports betting in January 2023, two weeks after the Delaware Lottery formally launched its RFP for a new online gaming partner.
That partner turned out to be Rush Street as the winner of a five-year monopoly during which time the study group praised the selection.
The key period to observe was the first three months under Rush Street compared to the same period last year when 888 ran iGaming and there was no online sports betting.
Delawareans bet nearly $50 million on sports over the first three months of 2024 with $5.6 million in revenue, of which the state received $1.9 million. That is compared to $16.1 million in handle and $3.3 million in revenue, of which the state received $1.7 million.
One significant difference between the two periods is vendor fees: the Lottery paid $2 million in vendor fees for those three months this year compared to $641,000 last year.
