Delaware Sports Betting

Online sports betting and retail sportsbooks are legal and operational in Delaware for fans 21 or older.

The Delaware online sports betting industry launched in December 2023 after BetRivers Sportsbook opened in partnership with the State Lottery.

Delaware’s three casinos also offer in-person wagering at retail sportsbooks powered by BetRivers.

Other Delaware online betting options include daily fantasy sports, pari-mutuel horse racing betting, and online casinos.

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21+ to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-888-850-8888 or visit DEProblemGambling.org. All games are lottery games controlled by the Delaware Lottery.

Delaware Online Sports Betting Overview

Delaware online sports betting in late 2023 when BetRivers Sportsbook launched for bettors 21 and above.

The Delaware Lottery offers sports betting in partnership with the state’s three casinos in accordance with state law. In late 2023, the Delaware Lottery selected Rush Street Interactive, the parent company of BetRivers, to manage its online betting operations.

Key things to know about online sports betting in Delaware:

  • BetRivers is the only online sportsbook authorized in Delaware
  • Fans must be 21 or older to bet online
  • Each Delaware Casino offers online sports betting through a unique URL, but they all use the same BetRivers platform
  • Fans may also download the BetRivers app to bet online
  • Bets permitted on professional and college sports, except games involving Delaware universities

Delaware Online Sportsbooks

Although BetRivers is the only online sportsbook authorized in Delaware, there are multiple ways to access it due to a quirk in state law that grants individual branding rights to each land-based casino.

In total, there are three standalone websites and two mobile apps that all lead to the same destination: BetRivers Sportsbook.

Fans can visit BetRivers Sportsbook online through each of the state’s three land-based casino websites or by downloading one of two standalone BetRivers apps.

Visit BetRivers Delaware online at:

  • ballycasino.betrivers.com
  • harrington.betrivers.com
  • delawarepark.betrivers.com

Alternatively, bettors can search for the following apps on the App Store or Google Play Store:

  • BetRivers Sportsbook
  • Bally Casino by BetRivers

Regardless of how bettors access BetRivers, the experience is identical because each platform connects users to the same BetRivers Sportsbook platform.

Delaware Sportsbook Bonuses

Despite being the state’s only legal online sportsbook, BetRivers offers an attractive welcome bonus to all new users who sign up for accounts and place their first wagers.

Additional sports betting bonuses could be on the way as well. Lawmakers are considering proposals for new legislation to expand the Delaware online sports betting market by authorizing additional online sportsbooks.

If that happens, bettors in Delaware can expect increased competition, resulting in more welcome bonuses.

Delaware Sportsbook Locations

Each of Delaware’s three casinos operates a retail sportsbook where guests 21 or older can watch games live and place wagers in person.

  • Delaware Park Sportsbook
  • Bally’s Dover Sportsbook
  • Harrington Raceway Sportsbook

Delaware Sports Betting Law

Delaware holds the unique distinction of being the first state other than Nevada to legalize single-game sports betting.

Delaware was one of just a handful of states with an existing form of sports betting in place when PASPA, the federal law that prohibited sports betting, was active, resulting in an exemption from the law.

PASPA prohibited all states from authorizing or regulating sports betting but included a provision grandfathering legal sports betting programs already in place or approved within one year of PASPA’s enactment in 1992.

At the time, Nevada was the only state with single-game sports betting. Delaware did not have single-game betting, but the state lottery did offer a parlay-style NFL wagering game called Scoreboard.

The Scoreboard program was shuttered after just a single season, but that was enough to grant Delaware a limited exemption from PASPA.

Delaware attempted to leverage that exemption in 2009 with a bill authorizing wagers on the outcomes of individual games. The legislature approved the bill, and Governor Jack Markell signed it into law later that year.

The MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and NCAA sued to prevent the law from taking effect because it would expand Delaware sports betting beyond the scope of the original exemption granted under PASPA.

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against Delaware, finding that any expansion of sports betting in Delaware beyond the parlay-style wagers offered under Scoreboard would violate PASPA.

Although the effort was unsuccessful, Delaware never formally repealed the 2009 law.

In late 2017, reports began circulating that the Carney administration was drawing up plans to revive the 2009 law if the Supreme Court were to rule in favor of New Jersey in its challenge of the constitutionality of PASPA.

The Supreme Court struck down PASPA as unconstitutional, and Delaware was able to act on the opportunity faster than any other state and quickly moved to legalize sports betting.

Governor John Carney placed the first ever legal single-game bets outside of Nevada on June 5th, 2018.

Delaware Horse Racing Betting

Delaware is one of many states that allow real money horse racing betting in-person at tracks, online, and via off-track betting facilities (OTBs).

Delaware Online Horse Racing Betting

Most horse racing betting sites accept Delaware horse bettors.

State residents who are 18 or older may register with any of the online racebooks listed on this page to place wagers.

Delaware has not formally legalized advance deposit wagering. However, state authorities seem content to let horse racing betting sites and apps that openly offer their services to customers.

Lawmakers introduced legislation in 2017 (HB 251) to legalize, regulate, and tax ADW providers, but the bill didn’t make it out of committee.

For now, Delaware horse racing fans can continue to bet online at full track odds with numerous advance deposit wagering sites.

Delaware Race Tracks and OTBs

One thoroughbred racetrack and two harness race tracks operate in Delaware. All three also operate as the state’s only authorized OTB locations where visitors may place simulcast wagers on races:

Two regulatory bodies oversee horse racing and parimutuel wagering in Delaware:

The Thoroughbred Racing Commission oversees thoroughbred racing at Delaware Park, and the Harness Racing Commission oversees harness racing at Bally’s Dover and Harrington Raceway.

Delaware Daily Fantasy Sports

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Delaware formally legalized daily fantasy sports in 2017. State law now requires DFS operators to apply for licenses and to adhere to basic consumer protection regulations.

Oversight of daily fantasy sports contests is provided by the Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement. The Division is responsible for authorizing DFS providers to operate in Delaware, ensuring all laws are followed, and responding to customer complaints.

Read more about the Delaware fantasy sports market here:

Delaware Online Gambling

Online gambling is legal in Delaware under the Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 (HB 333).

The Act authorized online casino games and poker sites, operated by the lottery and offered through the websites of Delaware’s land-based casinos.

The Act amended Title 4 and Title 29 of the Delaware Code to authorize each of the state’s casinos to offer casino games and poker online.

29 DE Code § 4801 explains the intent of the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 in simple terms:

(c) In authorizing the use of the Internet for certain lottery games, it is the further purpose of the General Assembly to:

(1) Expand access to certain lottery games by offering them on the Internet in a well-regulated and secure system designed to create a positive customer experience that limits access to minors, those with gambling problems, and others who should not be gaming;

As one of the first states to tackle online gambling, Delaware was a trailblazer in dealing with certain technical and regulatory aspects related to legalization.

Geolocation and payment processing were two particularly challenging issues for an industry that was still in its infancy and still viewed with skepticism.

However, Delaware overcame those challenges and showed that legal online betting can be regulated safely and responsibly.

Geolocation was challenging in the early days as the technology was still relatively new, and Delaware was a small state with a sizable portion of its citizens living near a state line.

At first, location verification measures implemented by Delaware had trouble getting precise locations on players and ended up blocking too many people.

Delaware could not allow players to access licensed casino sites from out of state. The state’s online casinos had no choice but to err on the side of caution and block anyone who could not be verified as being physically located within state lines.

Although Delaware’s geolocation measures were a bit overzealous at the time, they successfully blocked out-of-state players just like online gambling proponents had originally promised.

Delaware’s success proved to the country at large that online gambling can be managed state-by-state as mandated by federal law.

Deposits were also troublesome at first, as banking institutions blocked many debit and credit card deposits to Delaware gambling sites.

The issue with deposits stemmed from the UIGEA, a federal law that prohibits banking institutions from processing payments to and from illegal offshore betting sites.

In the wake of the UIGEA’s passage in 2006, many banks opted to block all gambling-related transactions rather than attempt to determine which are legal.

It was estimated at one point that up to 70% of credit and debit card deposits to Delaware gaming sites were being blocked.

That caused significant issues for obvious reasons, but the industry improved and now states with legal online gambling have little issue processing deposits for players.

Delaware Online Casinos

Under state law, each of Delaware’s three land-based casinos may offer online gambling in partnership with the state lottery. Each casino offers online gambling through the BetRivers Casino app and the following websites:

  • ballycasino.betrivers.com
  • harrington.betrivers.com
  • delawarepark.betrivers.com

Although there are three online casino sites players can visit to play, there are no functional differences between them because the DE Lottery has an exclusive contract with Rush Street Interactive to manage its online casino operations under the BetRivers brand.

In other words, BetRivers Casino is the only licensed online casino in Delaware.

Read more about the Delaware online gambling market:

Delaware Online Poker

Delaware had legal online poker from 2013 through 2023 through a partnership between the Delaware Lottery and Evoke plc (formerly 888 Holdings).

The partnership expired in 2023, and the Delaware Lottery replaced Evoke with Rush Street Interactive, the parent company of BetRivers. The end of the partnership also signaled the end of online poker in Delaware because Rush Street Interactive does not yet offer online poker.

However, Rush Street Interactive acquired Run It Once Poker in 2022 and plans to launch BetRivers Poker in several states with shared liquidity, including Delaware.

The latest indications are that BetRivers Poker will launch within the 6-12 months and that Delaware will be among the first states where it goes live.

See BettingUSA’s Delaware online poker guide:

Delaware Sports Betting FAQ

Yes. Delaware passed legislation in 2009 authorizing the state lottery to conduct sports wagering. Shortly after the Supreme Court overturned the federal sports betting prohibition (PASPA) in 2018, Delaware’s three casinos opened retail sportsbooks.

Sports fans can visit retail sportsbooks at three casinos to place their wagers in person. Bally’s Dover in Dover, Delaware Park in Wilmington, and Harrington Raceway in Harrington each has a sportsbook.

Additionally, fans can bet online in Delaware through BetRivers Sportsbook.

Yes. Delaware launched legal online sports betting in December 2023.

Delaware Sports Lottery rules require bettors to be 21 or older.

Yes, but sportsbooks may not offer wagers on games involving Delaware colleges.

No. Delaware sportsbooks may not offer esports betting.

Readers can view Delaware’s sports betting laws and regulations on this page at the DE Lottery website.

Yes. Delaware horse racing fans can bet with popular advance deposit wagering sites, including TwinSpires, and AmWager.

Bettors can also visit off-track betting locations for simulcast wagering on all Triple Crown events.