The Delaware Lottery released its November net proceeds statistics this week, and it was a double-edged sword.
On the positive side, the net proceeds from online table games, online poker, and the video lottery remain far above those from the same time last year. On the negative side, revenue from table games was down for the second month in a row, and online poker rake and fees were down for the fourth month running.
It seems that Delaware has not reduced casino capacity since the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic rolled in over the past few months. The casinos – racinos, really – remain at 60% capacity, which is the same limitation as was imposed when they reopened this summer. People seem to be comfortable going to the land-based gambling establishments.
While the overall numbers are still approximately double the revenue from last year, November didn’t provide encouragement that online gamblers will remain online.
Online Poker Down for Fourth Month
The little online poker market of Delaware generates a little money for the state and makes casual poker players happy. The fact that the sites – all three on the same platform – are connected across state lines makes even more players happy. The 888poker platform allows players from Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware to compete together, which provides more liquidity, bigger prize pools, and more options overall.
There is a slight problem with this, however. While players on that poker platform can connect with players on WSOP.com in other states for some action, Delaware poker players cannot play in the WSOP tournaments, like the WSOP Circuit, the summer WSOP series, or the WSOP Main Event.
Fixing that problem could create larger WSOP tournament fields and potentially attract more Delaware players to the online poker sites.
Online poker rake and fees remain significantly greater year-on-year. However, November showed a YoY increase of 49%, but that is well below the previous months. While the 124% to 329% increases in March through May are unlikely to be matched, the year-over-year numbers remained greater than 100% through September. It dropped below that threshold in October, and November took it down to less than 50%.
Internet Gaming Sector Dips Again
Revenue from online table games decreased for the second month in a row, but this month’s decrease was extraordinary. The dip from September to October was 15.9%, but November’s revenue was down 54.9%. In fact, the $67,721.27 was even down 8.8% from the previous year. That is a bad sign after the growth for the industry in 2020.
Video lottery was back on the rise in November after dropping 26.2% in October. Last month’s revenue of $463,876.24 was up 3% month-on-month, a good sign for the strong base of the online gaming sector of Delaware.
On the yearly front, November kept up that positive growth overall. Year-on-year, November’s igaming revenue was at 51% growth. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as last month’s 161.6% YoY increase or the 225% to 275% growth from April through June, but the glass is still half full.
New Registrations Down Again
This ever-falling number has been nearing the break-even point from last year at this time. The influx of new registrations from March and April of this year settled and decreased every month since.
Year-on-year, November’s registration number was only 13% higher. The reality is that the sector needs more new registrations to maintain any of the growth it saw in 2020.
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