This year, just in time for the kickoff of the NFL season, the folks in the state of Delaware will have about 60 retail venues at which they will be allowed to place wagers on sporting events… legally. The practice started last year when the state licensed 31 retail sites… in addition to the states 3 land based casinos… to accept sports betting… that is if you only want to bet on the NFL.
The program was such a successful money maker for the state that the number of places available to place bets will be doubled for 2013 even though the average wager last year was only $10. $6,400,000 was wagered in 638,000 bets.
Mr. Vernon Kirk, the State Lottery Director, says that the new venues did not hurt the casinos… which were the only legal places to bet on the NFL up until last year. In fact the three casinos in Delaware enjoyed a 7% increase in money wagered on NFL games last season from $17.8 million up to $19 million last year. Kirk suggests that there is room for more venues that may draw new players and more money wagered.
Such news leads us to believe that the view of the general public in the USA is indeed leaning more and more towards the legalization of sports wagering throughout the United States and Canada.
The wagering venues in Delaware are all set to begin taking bets on the very first day of the NFL preseason beginning with the Hall of Fame Game in Arlington, Texas on August 4th.
The state has yet to announce all of the new sites that will be opening but Kirk told reporters that his office is keeping an open mind about where to place the sites. “We’ve looked at floor traffic and stuff and so, again, restaurants and sports bars and also convenient stores and a variety of other places.” “The new venues added a year ago accounted for a 40% overall increase in the amount of money wagered last year… from $17.8 million in 2011 to $25.5 million in 2012.”
Even with the 40% increase in sales, officials in Delaware claim that the state ended up clearing about the same as in 2011, about $2.24 million. In spite of the $573,000 in increased revenues generated by the wagering sites allowing parlay bets at sports bars, restaurants and convenience stores, the state’s take stayed the same because of bettors simply winning more in 2012.
