After months of nervous anticipation as fans and bettors wondered if football could be played during a pandemic, the NFL started on time Sept. 10 and bettors in Delaware responded in kind.
The total sports betting handle for September was $7.27 million, a marked increase from the $2.96 million in handle in August, when MLB and the NBA were the two major sports playing games.
The September 2020 handle was down approximately 38% from the September 2019 mark of $11.84 million, possibly due to a limited amount of college football games this year as several conferences have yet to start and numerous games were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Delaware Lottery, which oversees all gambling in the state, said Delaware Park had $3.6 million in sports handle and $425,002 in revenue. Harrington Raceway booked $1.9 million in wagers, with $254,809 in revenue. And Dover Downs had $1.7 million in handle, $224,639 in revenue.
Dover Downs had the highest handle in August, officials said.
Delaware is the sixth-smallest state in the US by population, ahead of only Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska and the two Dakotas, with approximately 975,000 residents.
Earlier this week, the Delaware Lottery said online casinos in the state brought in record revenue growth in August with $808,623 in wagers, an increase of 263.4% from August 2019, and up $702,533, or 15.1%, from July 2020.
