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Online & Mobile Sports Betting Goes Live in Delaware With BetRivers
By Jeff Osienya Dec 29, 2023 IndustryBetter late than never! Delaware has finally opened doors for regulated online and mobile sports betting within its state lines. Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers is the sole licensed vendor, and RSI has also taken over iGaming operations from 888.Delaware, the Blue Hen State, officially ushered in online and mobile sports betting within its borders this week. Rush Street Interactive, selected in August by the Delaware State Lottery as the state’s sole provider, launched online and mobile sports wagering in the state through its BetRivers platform.
The recent development in Delaware means that the state joins the fold of 27 other states that have launched legal online sports betting. Delaware was among the first U.S. jurisdictions to move on sports betting following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling to repeal the infamous federal PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) in May 2018.
While that move was brave and lauded in many avenues, the state’s slow progression in launching online and mobile sports betting has been somewhat of a puzzle.
Delaware’s Slow Progression to Online Sports Wagering Debut
Before PASPA’s repeal countrywide, Delaware was one of the four states (alongside Nevada, Montana, and Oregon) that had immunity to specific PASPA prohibitions regarding the type of sports betting they could offer at the time. In Delaware’s case, this meant that the state was allowed to provide parlay sports betting to its bettors.
Then, when PASPA was eventually repealed, the high expectation in the gambling circles was that Delaware would always be at the forefront of fully-fledged sports betting regulation. True to this, Delaware was among the first states to launch its legal sports betting expansion bid soon after PASPA’s repeal. While Delaware’s progress in sports betting has been commendable, its progress in online and mobile sports betting has been far less progressive.
Fast forward to 2023, the Delaware Lottery had hoped to have everything in place to go by the beginning of the new football season in September. That plan was, however, delayed as Delaware legislators argued that this would be premature; instead, they offered suggestions on how the implementation would be done better. That said, the state lottery eventually implemented the new online sports wagering system despite the legislators’ frivolous reservations. An age limit of 21 has also been set for anyone living within the state to access online and mobile sports betting services.
Delaware’s three casinos operate differently from how commercial casinos may operate in other states. They may be individually owned, but they are essentially an extension of the state-run lottery with the state’s casino machines, which are essentially video lottery terminals. The lottery collects about 38% of the VLTs revenue, 11% is allocated to the horsemen, and 7% goes to vendor fees. The casinos retain 44% of the revenue.
As great as it is that online and mobile sports betting is finally live in Delaware, the state has a lot of catching up to do. States like New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and most recently, New York are far ahead.
RSI Taking Over From 888 in iGaming Operations
The Delaware Lottery, which governs all retail sports betting operations, is also tasked with handling online casino operations, which also changed hands during the online and mobile sports wagering debut. The state’s bidding process to determine who would gain control of the sports betting operations involved two companies, 888 Holdings, the parent company of William Hill, and BetRivers.
888 Holdings has been powering the iGaming offering (poker and online casino) of the Delaware Lottery since 2013, alongside retail sports betting powered by OpenBet. But then, since 888 had announced that it was exiting the Delaware market midway through the online sports betting tendering process, RSI automatically won the contract. Due to 888’s departure, RSI was also awarded the reins of Delaware’s iGaming.
Thus, the sites launched by Betrivers will be connected to each of three racetrack casinos in the state: Harrington Raceway, Delaware Park and Bally’s Dover. Expressing his excitement about the partnership with Delaware, Richard Schwartz, the RSI CEO, opined:
Quote“We are honored to collaborate with the Delaware Lottery team and the state’s three casinos to offer consumers who are geo-located in Delaware with safe, convenient, and innovative online gaming experiences.”
With the Delaware victory, it is the second time that Rush has secured such privileges for a state. Back in August 2021, the company secured rights to govern the retail and online betting activities for the Connecticut Lottery. The agreement signed at the time saw Rush commit to a minimum of $170 million in the entirety of the 10-year contract it signed. However, The Chicago-based company announced in March 2023 that it was winding down operations in the Nutmeg State after struggling to reach profitability in the state.
The revenue generated from online and mobile sports betting in Delaware will be channeled toward the Delaware General Fund. The Delaware lottery’s contract with Rush is for an initial five years with the possibility of being extended for another five years. RSI CEO Richard Schwartz also said:
Quote“This partnership is yet another significant milestone for RSI, as the confidence of a state-backed organization, such as the Delaware Lottery, further validates the trust that lottery officials have in our award-winning online platform and customer service.”
Hope For a More Open Market in the Future
While we’ve already seen that the state has reserved the next five years for BetRivers, there is widespread hope that it will consider opening up its market post-2029. Thankfully, the state’s legislators are leading the march. Earlier in December, the state’s House tasked a working group with coming up with recommendations on how best to conduct sports betting, seeing that it is becoming a common practice in many states. This group reported that a more competitive market with multiple operators would significantly boost the tax revenues of the Blue Hen State.
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