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The state of Delaware reports revenue of $257,870 their first week of offering legalized sports betting, and this is at the reduced exposure originally intended due to pending lawsuits. That is $257,870 which the state would not have received if not for sports wagering.
State officials described the dollar amount handled as promising.
Nonetheless, the state has been limited by the types of wagers that can be offered. Last week's handle turned out to be only a fraction of the $3 million originally promised by Governor Jack Markell.
"The first weekend numbers are encouraging," said Joe Rogalsky, Markell's chief spokesman. "Clearly we don't have the flexibility that we had hoped for to make it as lucrative as possibile."
This is due to the fact that last month, a federal appeals court barred Delaware from allowing anything more than "parlay" bets on three or more NFL matches. The NFL and other major sports leagues came down hard on Delaware's efforts to allow legalized sports betting. Experts give the chances of Delaware winning on appeal (filed this past week) near zero odds of succeeding.
Jeff Montgomery of the News Journal reports that supporters of the sports betting proposal had predicted full-year state revenues of about $17 million overall, including $14 million in addtional slots machine play attributed to increased casino traffic because of sports betting opportunities.
Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
