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Delaware online casinos might not be the most lucrative in the nation but considering the circumstances, they are performing quite respectably. They have won at least a million dollars from players for nine consecutive months.
August numbers show that overall, the gambling industry in the First State is maintaining its healthy returns. Growing gaming revenue in Delaware could require some expansion that legislators have toyed with.
Delaware’s gambling industry keeps pace with prior stats in August
Overall, August 2023 was essentially flat compared to the same month in 2022. Akin to the old axiom, it was a month in which the whole was greater than the individual parts.
Revenue from slots at the state’s three brick-and-mortar casinos was the only segment of the industry that saw a marginal increase in a year-over-year comparison. Like July’s revenue numbers, August’s showed annual downturns elsewhere.
Table games at those land-based casinos experienced the smallest diminishment, dropping 11.8% compared to August 2022. In-person sports betting revenue declined 12.2% while online casino win shrank 14.6% compared to the same month in the previous year according to the Delaware Lottery.
Regardless, the state’s share of land-based revenue remained essentially the same. While the current fiscal year isn’t off to a record start for Delaware gambling, the losses are not yet really significant.
At the same time, the gambling industry appears to not be gaining ground. A gaming expansion that industry players have been pushing for in Delaware could help to change that.
The missing link in Delaware’s gambling
While Delaware is one of just six states to offer real-money online casino play to residents legally, it has a significant piece of the regulated gambling puzzle missing. That is legal online sports betting.
However, the state legislature is actively studying the potential impact of legalizing online sporting betting right now. Earlier this year, Delaware legislators heard testimony from industry figures on that subject.
Those testifying claimed that during the 2022-23 NFL season, there were over four million attempts to bet on sports online in the state. While it’s difficult to hypothesize exactly the lost revenue that translates to, it could be a significant amount.
It could also be a way to trigger growth in Delaware’s gambling industry which is currently evading the state’s gambling licensees. Amid the status quo, the industry appears stagnant.
