Delaware iGaming Revenues Rise 13% To $166k In February
March 17, 2014 3:53 pmBack in November, Delaware became the first state to offer the full-range of online gambling games, unlike Nevada which may have had an online presence since April, 2013, but has so far limited itself to just internet poker. After four months of igaming results, however, and Delaware’s pre-regulation projection of $5 million in revenues by the end of year one, with $3.75 million going towards state coffers seems as distant a prospect as ever.
Overall, the latest online figures for February may have revealed a 13% rise in combined gambling revenues to $166,454 compared to $145,276 generated in January, but online poker plummeted by 16% to $73,971 from $88,390 for the previous month.
The statistics are even more concerning when one considers that the state’s internet poker revenue was the second lowest amount since regulation started in November, and that poker now represents just 44% of total online gambling revenues, down from 76% of the market in December. Alternatively, casino games reported a doubling in the amount wagered to $2.2 million in February, subsequently posting $64,986 in net earnings, while slots and video poker accounted for $27,496 in revenues.
Out of Delaware’s three racinos offering online gambling, Delaware Park contributed $112,43 of total revenues, and registered just 293 new accounts; while Dover Downs produced $40,007 in revenues and 772 new accounts, and Harrington just $14,009 in revenues and 402 new customers. In addition, the 693 new player accounts created in February represented an all-time low, and was down from the 1,006 created in January.
Nevertheless, Delaware is the smallest of the three markets currently providing online gambling in the USA, and the state’s fortunes are likely to improve gradually overtime as it overcomes initial ‘teething’ problems, and devotes more funds towards marketing and promotion efforts. Furthermore, Delaware recently signed an interstate compact with Nevada, which is expected to be implemented sometime over the next year. Commenting on the future potential of Delaware’s igaming industry, Frank Fantini from Fantini Research, explains:
“It might be two, three years from now, we might say this [online gambling] is a nice little business in Delaware. But right now, it’s pretty slow.”