Two Delaware legislators are looking to shake up the state’s sports betting market, which just saw its first online sportsbook launch in December.
Reps. Frank Cooke and William Bush introduced HB 365 Thursday. The bill authorizes two skins each for the state’s three casinos.
In June 2018, Delaware was the first state outside of Nevada to take a legal single sport bet after the repeal of PASPA, but progress has moved at a glacial pace since then. BetRivers is now the sole provider of Delaware sports betting through a multi-year agreement signed last year.
How a transition would work should the bill pass is not entirely clear. Requests for comment from sponsors, the Delaware Lottery and Rush Street Interactive went unreturned by publication.
Delaware sports betting bill details
The biggest note about HB 365 is that it gives operators incentive to hand out promotions to acquire bettors. Sportsbooks could deduct 2.5% of monthly handle from taxable revenue through June 2025. That drops to a flat 2% moving forward in July 2025.
That deduction amount could be raised by the director of the Delaware Lottery at their discretion “when … the interests of the lottery system will be served thereby.”
The sportsbooks would be taxed at 18% of adjusted gross sports lottery receipts, which is revenue minus promotions and the federal excise tax. Another 1.5% of that adjusted revenue would be contributed to horse racing purses.
