The small eastern state of Delaware reportedly earned over $320,000 from sportsbetting on Tuesday after its three casinos became the first in the nation outside of Las Vegas to offer punters the ability to place legal single-game wagers on a variety of professional sports including contests from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball.
According to a report from ESPN.com, Delaware has been quick to cash in on legalized single-game sportsbetting after last month saw the United States Supreme Court invalidate the previous Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) prohibition while its compatriots of New Jersey and West Virginia are widely being tipped as the next jurisdictions likely to follow suit.
Single-game sportsbetting reportedly began in Delaware on June 5 with Governor, John Carney, symbolically placing the first wager inside Dover Downs Hotel and Casino. The Democrat successfully bet $10 on the Philadelphia Phillies to defeat the Chicago Cubs while Vernon Kirk, Director for the Delaware Lottery, revealed that the state ended the day richer to the tune of $322,135, despite there being no Stanley Cup Finals matchup or NBA Finals game.
“For us, it’s really an enhancement of our tourism industry,” 62-year-old Carney reportedly told ESPN.com. “It will attract a lot of visitors to our state, particularly at this time of year, during the summer, coming to our beautiful beaches south of here. They come here and stop at the casinos and do slot machine and table gaming. This will be another opportunity for them.”
ESPN.com reported that Delaware now allows punters to place single-game sports wagers inside the Casino at Delaware Park as well as at the Harrington Raceway and Casino although aficionados must adhere to a $1,000 maximum stake limit.
Delaware has reportedly earned approximately $48 million since September of 2009 thanks to offering legalized parlay wagers on National Football League (NFL) contests, but ESPN.com explained that this latest move could see ‘The First State’ bring in as much as $50 million a year in new revenues. It furthermore cited research from Eilers and Krejcik Gaming in predicting that this figure might rise to at least $350 million if online sportsbetting is fully implemented while the annual nationwide tally could possibly top out at around $8 billion.
