No one ever accused Delaware and Oregon of sharing anything but proximity to the coast. That extends to their sports betting revenue as well.
The Beaver State took $5.6 million in bets for the first half month of operations of Scoreboard, the Oregon sports betting app run by the state lottery.
SBTech-powered Scoreboard launched Oct. 16, meaning the figures from the Oregon State Lottery only include two NFL Sundays.
Net revenue was $218,000, which equates to a rough win percentage of 3.9% since futures aren’t broken out.
The lottery didn’t offer a breakdown of which sports accounted for how much handle. That makes it a little challenging to figure out what November might look like given there were 10 MLB playoff games – including all seven World Series games – available to bet.
Oregon sports betting could lag behind other states considering its complete ban on college sports betting.
Mobile first for Oregon sports betting
This was the first instance where a mobile sportsbook launched before a commercial retail operation in the state.
Oregon sports betting kiosks should begin appearing at lottery outlets in the coming months, according to PlayUSA.
Mobile drives sports betting growth in the majority of states that offer it, especially those without in-person registration requirements. Oregon sports betting stats will be interesting to examine over the next few months to see how online compares to kiosk handle.
Technically, retail sports betting did launch first in Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians opened a retail book at the Chinook Winds Casino in August.
The next state to launch mobile before retail will likely be Tennessee, but that’s a special situation: the Volunteer State opted for mobile-only sports betting.
First State, zero mobile
Chalk the First State up as another state missing the boat on its full potential of revenue from sports betting.
Delaware sports betting handle at its three racinos fell 34.7% in the four-week period ending Oct. 27 to $9.6 million compared to last year.
The racinos were at least lucky in the bets that they did accept. Their net proceeds nearly quadrupled to $1.7 million.
The lack of mobile isn’t the sole reason for the drop, but mobile likely could have prevented the decrease or lessened the blow. Pennsylvania launched mobile sports betting in June and has ramped handle quickly, which is likely taking away from Delaware’s total.
Mobile sports wagering is legal in Delaware, but the state has not enacted it.
Diving into the numbers
One look at the official report from the Delaware Lottery paints the picture pretty clearly.
Delaware Park, which sits about 20 miles from the Pennsylvania state line at its farthest point, had handle fall 43% to $6.1 million in October.
There are two possible reasons for the drop:
- Those Pennsylvania/Maryland bettors who were traveling to Delaware Park as their most convenient or preferred betting location found a mobile app in Pennsylvania that fits their needs better than traveling to a retail book.
- The bettors in Delaware who once bet at their local casino are now traveling to Pennsylvania or nearby New Jersey for a wider variety of odds. The Delaware Lottery exclusively gets odds from William Hill.
Handle also fell 15.3% to $1.9 million at Twin River‘s Dover Downs and 11% to $1.7 million at Harrington Park.
Why no mobile?
The cost of setting up mobile betting in the state appears to be the biggest deterrent. Delaware is the smallest state by population to offer sports betting with less than a million citizens.
But this drop should only continue as more online operators launch in Pennsylvania. New Jersey has plenty of operators but is still getting new twists as well with Yahoo Sportsbook officially launching its revamped Yahoo Sports app that includes betting odds provided by BetMGM.
Parlays still strong in Delaware
Delaware was one of the few states with sports betting laws grandfathered in after PASPA was enacted. The state began offering parlay betting in 2009.
Those three-team minimum parlays appear to still be popular despite single-game betting launching last June. Handle held relatively steady over that four-week period at $6.4 million for the parlays accepted by Delaware Lottery retailers.
Revenue to the retailers from the parlays rose 38.6% to $1.7 million.
