Delaware likely to begin single-game sports betting Tuesday

Delaware is likely to become the first state to offer wagering on single-game professional sports outside of Nevada since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting, according to a Thursday announcement.

The state’s three casinos, all located at racetracks, can begin taking single-game bets early in the afternoon Tuesday, according to an announcement made by the state’s Department of Finance and attorney general. That includes Delaware Park in Stanton, which opened its 2018 live-race meet Wednesday.

“Delaware has all the necessary legal and regulatory authority to move forward with a full-scale sports gaming operation, and we look forward to next week’s launch,” Delaware Gov. John Carney said in a press release. “We’re hopeful that this will bring even more visitors into Delaware to see firsthand what our state has to offer.”

Delaware was one of four states that had an exemption from the 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, that was struck down by the Supreme Court in its May 14 ruling. Under that exemption, the state has offered parlay betting on sports games, administered by its lottery division, with a number of retail sites throughout the state. Scientific Games, the company that has a parimutuel bet-processing division, is the state’s primary sports-betting contractor.

Betting for now will be limited to the state’s three casinos, but the state’s lottery division is working on a mobile application to take bets from people who are verified to be within the state’s borders at the time the bet is taken, according to the lottery division. The lottery division will continue to administer the new sports-betting operations.

Bill Fasy, owner of Delaware Park, said that the track expects to offer moneyline, over/under, and spread betting on major professional sports as of Tuesday. That will include betting on basketball, hockey, and the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament and high-profile golf matches.

During 2017, approximately $46 million was bet in Delaware on parlay cards, according to the lottery. Parlay cards produce far more revenue than straight bets on single games, and the brunt of the betting has been on football.

“We’re not going to make what we make on parlays,” said Fasy, on whether revenues from new sports betting will have a significant impact on Delaware’s finances. “I’ve seen all the forecasts, and I think all of those have been blown out of proportion. I do think there will be a lot of euphoria at first, with people coming in to make a bet and say they’ve done it, but it’s not going to pick up until football.”

Delaware is in a race with other states in the region to be first to offer sports betting on single games, and its planned debut next week could give it a jump on neighboring New Jersey, which was widely expected to lead the race. But legislation in New Jersey to iron out the regulatory environment is scheduled for a vote Thursday, making Friday the first day that sports wagering could plausibly begin in the state.

New Jersey’s current laws provide for legal wagering at the state’s racetracks, including Monmouth Park, and at casinos, leading to a flurry of activity in the state as companies attempt to prepare for the launch. On Friday morning, a leading daily fantasy operator, DraftKings, said it would sign an agreement with one of the state’s casinos, Resorts, to position the companies in the sports-wagering market. The announcement followed a mid-May merger between Paddy Power-Betfair, the owner of TVG and an exchange-wagering site in New Jersey, and DraftKings’ competitor, FanDuel.

Other states expected to accelerate their sports-wagering plans include West Virginia, where legislation passed earlier this year laid the groundwork for authorization in the likelihood of the Supreme Court striking down PASPA. Critically, that state has reportedly also reached an agreement with the major sports leagues that cut them in on revenue from sports betting, an issue that is expected to complicate the launch of sports-betting operations throughout the United States.