Delaware’s sports betting handle for June will be rough viewing for operators, with numbers showing its worst performance since August 2020. The underlying numbers look dismal in comparison with May’s, as net proceeds have plummeted from $495,676 to $212,768 across the three major race tracks in the state.
This is over a 100% decrease, which is a great cause for concern among Delaware’s sports betting operators. The Blue Hen state had seen positive results in May, with a $7.1m total sports betting handle up 29% from April. This means June’s handle of under $6m may come as an unpleasant surprise to operators.
This pattern of decline is seen across all of Delaware’s major casino racetracks: Delaware Park, Bally’s Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway & Casino all saw drops in net proceeds. The Dover Downs saw the most dramatic downturn as they presented only $57,411 in net proceeds compared to $143,778 in May.
This was Dover Downs's worst performance since July 2020 when the racetrack was closed throughout most of the month due to the pandemic.
Delaware bettors staked only $3.5m, which was down 41.1% year-on-year from 2021 and is reminiscent of the trepidatious first few months following the racetracks re-openings in 2020. The bet-shy nature of June for Delaware sports betting is reflected in the number of wagers which hit a record low for 2022, at only 110,000 wagers placed.
However, sports operators may not be alarmed as summer usually sees a drop-off in betting.
