Delaware Online Sports Betting

As one of the more progressive States of the Union in regards to liberal-minded gambling laws, the State of Delaware initially legalized online gaming as long ago as 2012 and the first online casinos began in the state in 2013.

Five years on, Delaware became the first state in the U.S. outside of long-legal Nevada to legalize single game sports betting on June 5, 2018. Delaware’s three land-based casinos all offer Vegas-style sports betting on major college and professional sports.

For the time being at least, there is no online sports betting in Delaware. The state’s casinos will not require advanced tweaking to extend sports betting to their existing gambling websites to fully make the switch towards the style of a NJ online sportsbook.

Delaware almost boasts the full-house of legal gambling options with the exceptions being online sports-betting, an online lottery and online charitable gaming.

Other than that, Delaware offers the full gamut of legal gambling possibilities.

No gambling tax rate on winnings applies in the State of Delaware

Large gambling wins in Delaware over $1200 may be subject to an additional Federal Tax.

Contact your tax attorney for full details if you have a big win.

Delaware is like many other states in the Mid-Atlantic and New England region states in terms of its minimum age requirements for legal betting options; a 21 years-of-age requirement to bet in the State’s Casinos (which also includes sports betting), and 18 years-of-age for all other wagering types.

For the time being, the only legal venues at which to do so in Delaware are at the State’s 3 land-based casinos;

• Delaware Park Casino
• Dover Downs Hotel & Casino
• Harrington Raceway & Casino

In the future, however, you may be able to bet on sports anywhere within the state of Delaware.

No longer is the answer to the question ‘Can you bet on boxing in Delaware?’ a no.

In fact, the state’s sportsbooks are looking to implement a number of sports under the state’s legal sports betting banner including NHL odds, CFL odds, Kentucky Derby and other Horse Racing Odds, NFL Odds, MLB Odds, Odds for PGA Golf tournaments, NCAA Odds, MLS Odds, NBA Odds and much, much, more.

For the time being at least, online sports betting is not offered in Delaware and the State’s legal sports betting options are only offered at the state’s three land-based casinos. There are currently no plans to consider bills that would change this fact, but watch this space and we will let you know as the situation unfolds and the online sports betting sites that could potentially become available in Delaware

For online sports betting sites to take hold in Delaware, we may need to see the government revisit its ‘single-game-only’ sports wagering laws before launching online sports betting that by its nature, offers more prop betting wagering opportunities.

Fantasy sports betting has mostly been exempted from US federal legislation as it is widely considered to be a contest of skill, not a game of chance with a random outcome.

A few of the less enlightened states do actively prohibit fantasy sports, however, Delaware’s state legislature never actively threatened to put an end to Fantasy Sports. In fact, in 2017, Delaware became the 14^th state to pass state legislation to formally legalize and regulate fantasy sports.

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) sites must be licensed to operate in Delaware and are subject to numerous consumer protection regulations. Requirements include;

• All sites must be licensed,
• All sites must comply to truth in advertising,
• All sites may NOT OFFER contests based on amateur or college sporting events.
• They must only accept customers over 18,
• They must be subject to independent audits and;
• They must keep players’ funds in a separate account from operator funds (in order to protect customers’ deposits).
• The Delaware DFS sunset clause laws were re-examined in 2019 and leading DFS sites are still free to operate in the State.

Online Players have been able to play DFS online in Delaware for years prior to the 2017 state bill and little changed for players. The largest DFS sites applied for licenses immediately and all are currently authorized to continue holding DFS contests in Delaware.

Given the decision of the U.S. Federal Supreme Court in May 2018 in favor of sports betting in general, Delaware became one of the first states to have legal eSports gambling as a part of the package. Sports betting regulations have now been legislated to be made on a state-by-state basis, including Delaware.

eSports betting is already leading the way as a betting market mover-and-shaker in Delaware.

What are eSports?

eSports has transformed video game play at the highest levels into a full-time professional sport. In most scenarios, it’s played on an individual level, however, for the time being, eSports is mostly played by teams and in league and tournament formats.

The electronic games are equivalent to sports types, in some ways. For example, in eSports, CS:GO and Call of Duty are equivalent to, say, soccer and NFL. eSports is the overarching concept, whilst the different game types are the individual sport types.

Betting on eSports continues to gain in popularity each passing year. An increasing number of sportsbooks now offer a range of betting markets across all major eSports tournaments and formats.

The worldwide gaming market will pass the $100 billion revenue mark in 2018, and as such, eSports represents the highest-level competition in gaming today including the best and most-loved professional players in the world today, all with millions of fanatical fans across the globe.

Watch for betting on eSports at your favorite Delaware sportsbook.

Horse Racing Betting is legal (both on course/track side) for all residents of the state of Delaware. Federal laws allow each state to determine the legality of horse racing betting and most states allow their residents to wager on horse races both Track side, Off Track Betting and online. All of the nation’s largest horse betting websites have a presence in the state of Delaware.

Trackside Betting

Delaware is home to three live racing venues that accept wagers on horse races. Horse racing in the state is regulated by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission and the Harness Racing Commission and administered under the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Delaware

Due to Delaware’s small geographical area, off-track wagering and simulcasts are offered at the three live racing locations across the state only. Wagering on races in Delaware and around the world are all available.

Online Horse Racing in Delaware

Major horse racing betting sites accept customers from Delaware. Each of the major horse racing betting sites are all headquartered in the United States and all hold licenses to offer bets on horses (thoroughbred and harness racing) and greyhounds in Delaware.

Visit our Delaware online casino gambling page to read about the states gambling laws