14,500 Wagers Placed During First Week of Sports Betting

A total of $257,870 was made on sports wager at the start of Delaware’s three racetrack casinos. On the first week of operations, there were already more than 14,500 bets made on the NFL games. Tom Cook, acting finance secretary refused to give information regarding the net results or the payout to bettors, only saying that the state had a “positive revenue stream the first week”. After a few weeks, it is expected that the economic impact of public betting on sports will be released. Initial estimates point to the prediction that sports betting would generate around $3 million during the first year with about $414 million more resulting from crossover revenue because of possible upsurge in slot machine plays. Unfortunately, a federal appeals court panel made a move to restrict sports lottery following the estimates made by the state. The lawsuit was filed by sports league and the NCAA and the panel ruled that the lottery is limited to multiple wagers on the NFL. For their part, a petition was put forward by lawyers for the State of Delaware, requesting that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider arguments relating to lawsuits looking to impose limits with regard to sports lottery. They argued that the panel’s verdict conflicted with that of the U.S. Supreme Court. “The panel’s ruling is inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent, contradicted by legislative history, factually ungrounded, and an improper exercise of appellate review.” Attorneys wrote. Lawyers for the state punctuated their argument by noting the history of the ban, citing the report from the Senate Judiciary Committee stating that Delaware and Oregon may conduct sports lotteries on any sport. The committee at that time was chaired by Joe Biden. “The legislative history shows that the only legal constraint on Delaware is the breadth of what constitutes a ‘lottery’ under state control, a question of state law,” as written by attorneys. Delaware was intent on providing single-game wagers on a multitude of sports including the NFL. However, they also argued that the state is willing and able to present evidence, supporting opinion that single-game betting is basically the same with parlay wagers. To testify is a Yale University professor who is willing to provide evidence that the single-game and parlay wagers can imitate each other. During 1976, the state organized an NFL sports lottery, resulting in its exemption from the federal ban.  “We believe there are important legal and factual questions that should be heard by the entire Court,” said Governor Jack Markell. Representing the professional sports leagues as well as the NCAA, Attorney Kenneth Nachbar commented that the move would just be raising issues that were already decided by the panel. “If the Third Circuit wants us to reply, they’ll ask us” he added.