Delaware (USA): gambling regulation and licensing
State of Delaware
Part of United States
- Online casinoMonopoly
- Online sports bettingMonopoly
- Land-based (reference)Regulated
- Regulator
- Delaware Lottery
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Not yet verified
- Last verified
- 30 Aug 2026
Summary
Delaware is one of the oldest online casino markets in the United States and one of the smallest, because it is not a competitive market at all. Online casino has been authorised since 2013, but the Delaware Lottery holds the position and contracts a single vendor to run it, so players see one brand rather than a field of licensees. That vendor changed in 2023. 888 Holdings withdrew from the re-tender, citing the small size of the market against the cost of meeting the state's technical specification, and Rush Street Interactive was selected in its place. BetRivers launched in December 2023, bringing online sports betting with it on an initial five-year term. Delaware also has a claim the bigger states do not: it took the first legal single-game sports wager in the United States outside Nevada, in June 2018, weeks after the Supreme Court struck down PASPA. 888's stated reason for withdrawing, that the technical specification cost more than the market could return, is a useful data point on the economics of very small single-vendor states. Delaware shows that authorising online casino early does not by itself produce a competitive market.
Common pitfalls
Delaware is an online casino state, but not a competitive one: the Lottery contracts a single vendor, so a licence here is a procurement, not an application.
Key facts
- Regulator
- Delaware Lottery
- Regulator type
- Lottery monopoly
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Not yet verified
- Minimum age
- Not yet verified
- Tax base
- Not yet verified
- Capital
- Dover
- Currency
- USD
- Official languages
- English
Advertising
- Advertising permitted
- No
- Affiliate rules
- Affiliates are not separately licensed. There is no licensed competitive online operator to promote lawfully.
Restrictions
- Delaware has a single-vendor monopoly run through the Delaware Lottery, so one brand rather than a competitive field, so there is no competitive licensed operator whose products may be advertised.
- Promotion of offshore online operators to residents has no lawful basis.
- Advertising rules therefore follow the underlying position on what may lawfully be offered, rather than a separate state advertising code for online gambling.
Outlook
The question here is structural rather than legislative. A single-vendor monopoly in a state of one million people produces revenue that competitive markets a fraction of Delaware's age exceed comfortably, and lawmakers have repeatedly floated opening it to multiple operators.
Frequently asked questions
- Is online casino legal in Delaware?
- Yes, since 2013, but it is operated by the Delaware Lottery through a single contracted vendor rather than by competing licensees.
- Who runs Delaware's online casino?
- Rush Street Interactive, under the BetRivers brand, selected by the Delaware Lottery in 2023 and launched in December that year.
Sources
- Delaware Lottery
State of Delaware
Tier 1Accessed 22 Aug 2026 - Rush Street Interactive Selected by Delaware Lottery as Its Vendor for Online Gaming Operations
Rush Street Interactive
Tier 1Accessed 22 Aug 2026