Author: Matt Pelc | Article Posted at: May 7, 09 - 11:30 am

Sports betting coming to Delaware?

Delaware has always been the state known for its liberal laws regarding corporations, which is why the tiny state has attracted so many worldwide corporations to reside in the “First State.”

Fifty percent of all American companies which trade on a stock exchange and 60 percent of all Fortune 500 companies reside in Delaware.

But soon it may not just be the corporate honchos having a fun time in the state. If the Delaware legislature has its way, the state could soon allow wagering on all sports.

The state is already home to a booming gaming industry featuring pari-mutuel horse racing, slot machines and racinos. If the governor and legislature succeed, the state will also have a sports book.

And why not, the casinos housed at racetracks—which is how you get racinos—raced nearly $210 million in taxes last year. The industry accounted for the over six percent of the state’s budget and employed 2600 Delawareans.

The move is not an altruistic one on the government’s part. They are looking for ways to balance a $750 budget deficit and have seen a drop off in their limited gaming due to slot machines in nearby Pennsylvania.

Delaware is one of just four states that can legally have sports betting after the practice was eliminated in 1992. However Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon could be grandfathered in because they were the only states that allowed sports betting when the federal law went into effect.

As such those states have tinkered with sports betting for decades with mixed results. Everyone knows the success of the sports books in Las Vegas, which pull in tens of millions each year. Oregon also was successful with a sports lottery for nearly two decades of sports wagering, but shelved the practice to entice the NCAA Tournament to their state. Montana is new to the sports lottery world although it is too early to tell how successful it has been. Delaware tried and failed with a sport lottery in the mid-1970s.

The thing all four states have in common is that they do not have professional sports teams—save for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. Leagues have fought against sports betting, particularly in states which have pro teams, but Delaware has none.

If everything is approved, sports betting could begin as early as the upcoming football season.

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