Is sports betting coming to a Delaware casino near you?

Love it or hate it, it seems the ball is rolling…

This week, 145th Delaware General Assembly has been active on the following legislation related to the Delaware Lottery:

HS 1 for HB 100
Title: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE LOTTERY.

This bill requires the Lottery Director to use his or her authority to reestablish a sports lottery, which will enhance the Delaware Lottery, protect Delaware employment, and provide additional revenues for the State. The sports lottery excludes collegiate sporting events that involve a Delaware college or university. Persons under the age of 21 will not be allowed to participate in the sports lottery.

In reestablishing the sports lottery, the bill would take advantage of an exemption granted to the State of Delaware under federal law, namely the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which allows the states of Delaware, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana to engage in sports betting.

That’s the bill summary- so what about the money?

First, it’s worth noting that this bill would authorize the conduct of a sports lottery only at the three racinos presently operating. When we get into the actual dollar and cents of the matter, here’s what you can expect:

Proceeds from the conduct of a sports lottery at the racinos would be divided equally between the racinos and the State.

The bill imposes a collective annual license fee of $4,500,000, which is to be divided among the three racinos in proportion to each property’s percentage of the State’s total video lottery net proceeds.

The bill also decreases the commission currently paid to the three racinos, thereby increasing the share of video lottery proceeds received by the State.

Under this bill, the State’s share of expected revenue would be increased approximately 8%, from 37% to 45%, the commission paid to the three racinos would be decreased by approximately 7%, and the share of proceeds to be distributed to the purse accounts for thoroughbred and standardbred racing would be decreased by approximately 1%.

This bill also creates a Video and Sports Lottery Study Commission, which shall undertake studies to examine the possibility of expanding the number of sports lottery venues and also the possibility of allowing table gaming in Delaware.

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