Super Bowl Betting Sparks A Turnaround For Delaware In February

“We’re so back” — that’s got to be the belief around the Delaware sports betting industry. Back because at the end of 2024, the state posted a shocking loss for the month of December. It’s rare to lose money in a burgeoning industry like legal sports betting, but it happened here.

But two months into 2025, it might be safe to say that the December loss was a pure fluke. The state posted back-to-back winnings months to start the new year. However, February surprised us for reasons we’ll get into next.

Delaware Posts Profit In February Despite Eagles Win

Let’s get the data out of the way with. The Delaware Lottery says the February betting handle came in at $18,056,720. It’s about $5 million under January, but that’s to be expected. January still had the NFL regular season and most of the playoffs. February had the Super Bowl, and that’s it.

Of course, that’s not a small thing. Super Bowl betting draws more bets than any other event in the U.S., albeit for one day. But this year, it had extra attention on it in the state of Delaware. That’s because the de-facto home team of the state, the Eagles, were in the matchup versus the Chiefs.

While Delaware sports fans have allegiances across teams in the Northeast, Philly has the biggest share due to proximity. Philadelphia is about 30 miles from Wilmington and only 75 miles away from Dover. So yes, we can confidently say they are the state’s favorite team.

Welp, the Eagles absolutely crushed the Chiefs in the “big game” — by 22 points to the exact. This came as betting underdogs too. Given the predicament, many believed Delaware would struggle to profit since more bettors took bets on the Eagles that obviously cashed.

Once the dust settled, that proved not to be the case. BetRivers — the only licensed bookie in the state — reported gains of $631,667 for February. That was down significantly from the $1.7 million in profit from January, but again, that was done without a heavy concentration on bets on Eagles as underdogs that ended up hitting with ease. One more thing about February’s come-up, the state itself collected $303,445 in taxes. Not too shabby all things considered.

The Big Game Delivers A Big Month

Beyond the profit numbers, Delaware also saw a major spike in participation during Super Bowl weekend. The Delaware Lottery reported 18,000 unique bettors placed wagers on the big game — an 80% jump from the 10,000 who bet during last year’s Super Bowl.

But even more impressive? About 2,000 of those were brand-new accounts created just for the event. That’s nearly 1 in 9 bettors entering the market for the first time. Call it an Eagles bump cause that’s exactly what it was. The year before, the Chiefs played the 49ers, and we’d bet you fans of those teams are few and far between in Delaware.

This is why the Super Bowl is a “tentpole” event for sports betting apps — not just in Delaware, but countrywide. Around the marketplace, you see apps bring out their best promotions this time of year, all in an effort to capitalize on interest around the Super Bowl. Delaware’s data is proof that tentpole promotions work, especially for places where there are local ties.

We’re actually in the middle of another tentpole event. This one is a little thing called March Madness. After the Super Bowl, the NCAA Tournament is the second-biggest betting event. But here’s the difference between the two: March Madness lasts three weeks and has way more bets available. We’ll just have to see how that impacts Delaware’s betting roll when we get the March numbers next month.

The State’s Comeback Story

Remember when we said Delaware finished the 2024 calendar year in the red? Well, it did and there was some panic over it. But that panic has dissipated after two strong months — the latest one despite strong headwinds. Let’s quickly look at the arc of the last three months:

• December 2024 was one of the worst months in Delaware’s sports betting history. The state posted a net loss for the first time in years, despite a record-setting handle. With the benefit of hindsight, this can just be attributed to bettors picking right more than wrong. December saw a lot of betting favorites in the NFL cover — which is usually a bad sign for bookmakers.
• January 2025 brought relief. The books bounced back with a $1.7 million win. That was the third most amid the NFL season that started in September.
• Now, February has shown what’s possible even when the state’s favorite team wins in stunning fashion. Profits take a hit, yes, but nowhere near enough to finish red again.

Delaware’s small-size market makes it prone to this type of volatility. Remember, there’s only one bookie here and one of the country’s smallest populations. So a few chance events can swing the direction of the entire market — for better or for worse. The state should embrace variance from now on because it’s bound to happen again.