AGA Annual 2026 Report: How Did Casinos and Sportsbooks Fare in Delmarva Last Year?
The American Gaming Association's mid-May 2026 annual report offered definitive details on all of the dozens of U.S. states that authorize casinos, sports betting, and/or iGaming.
This story will analyze the numbers in the states of "Delmarva" - Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia - as well as the neighboring District of Columbia.
Maryland held the top commercial gaming revenue in Delmarva
Maryland led the region in 2025 with $2.7 billion in commercial gaming revenue.
MD's gaming landscape at a glance
- 5 commercial casinos
- 1 racino
- 12 mobile sportsbooks, 11 retail
There are five commercial casinos and one racino in Maryland. The state's history dates back to 2008, when state residents approved a referendum permitting five casino sites to feature electronic gaming devices.
In 2012, those sites added table games to become full-fledged casinos while opening of another casino was approved for Prince George’s County near Washington D.C.
Residents also approved sports betting in 2020 for casinos and major sports stadiums as well as certain bars and restaurants. Up to 60 mobile sports betting licenses were authorized - a number which former Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica in 2021 jokingly described as "a proxy for infinity."
Indeed, as of the start of 2026, Maryland had a mere 12 mobile sportsbook apps to go with 11 retail locations.
Gaming revenue declined, but sports betting went up
Commercial gaming revenue in the state slumped in 2025, according to the AGA report, declining 1.5% to $1.95 billion. That included a 3.3% drop in table game revenue.
The saving grace for Maryland's gaming industry in 2025 was sports betting, which was up almost 25% to $793.2 million. While land-based sports betting revenue of $14.3 million is less than 2% of the overall total, that figure was more than 33% higher than it was in 2024.
The tax rate from slot machines ranges from 40% to 60%, depending on the casino, which is higher than the national average. Table games are taxed at a more typical 20%, and the same is true of mobile sports betting revenue.
Maryland was one of four states to increase taxes on sports betting in 2025, joined with Illinois, Louisiana and New Jersey.
Overall, Maryland took in $955.2 million in gaming tax revenue in 2025 - the vast majority of which went toward funding various public education initiatives.
Maryland's casino industry faces a potential future challenge from discussion of a northern Virginia casino in Fairfax County.
Virginia still playing catch-up after late 2021 launch
It wasn't until 2021 that Virginia even launched a gaming industry, so revenue not surprisingly doubled in both 2022 and 2023 as residents’ awareness of the entertainment option grew. By 2024, Virginia's gaming industry produced $1.4 billion in revenue, followed by an increase to $1.8 billion in 2025.
Virginia's casinos at a glance
- 5 commercial casinos
- 11 mobile sportsbooks
- 1 racetrack with historical horse racing slot-style devices
Virginia has five commercial casinos.
The first temporary facility launched in Bristol in July 2022, and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol's permanent facility opened in November 2024. That southwest Virginia site is located near the border of Tennessee, which has no legal casinos.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth in southeastern Virginia - near the North Carolina border - opened as the first permanent site in the state in January 2023, and Caesars Virginia in Danville in southern Virginia opened its permanent facility in December 2024.
Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia's temporary site opened in Petersburg in January 2026, with the $1.4 billion permanent site scheduled for a grand opening by the end of the calendar year.
A tribal casino in Norfolk - near tourist-friendly Virginia Beach - opened as a temporary site in November 2025, with a $750 million permanent version expected to debut about two years later. The site does not yet feature table games.
State lawmakers continue to discuss whether to add another casino in Fairfax County, but so far to no avail. New Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill in April that would have put the issue before county residents for approval.
Colonial Downs racetrack in New Kent County includes a Rosie's Gaming Emporium with historical horse racing slot machine-like devices.
A closer look at the numbers
March 2026 marked the first time that Virginia's casino industry took in $100 million in revenue in a single month. The leader was Caesars Virginia at $34.2 million, followed by Portsmouth ($27.5 million), Bristol ($22.1 million), Petersburg ($15.2 million), and Norfolk ($1.1 million).
State law allows for up to 19 mobile sportsbooks, and as of early 2026 there were 11 such operators. Those sportsbooks took in $846.1 million in revenue in 2025, and a total of $672.9 million was wagered in March 2026 for a $60.1 million total sportsbook revenue leading to $9 million in tax revenue.
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Delaware a quiet pioneer in U.S. gambling
New Jersey lawmakers spent six years in the courts before a successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court led to the May 2018 landmark ruling that opened the door for any state to join Nevada in offering full-scale sports betting. New Jersey also launched the first online casino gaming competitive marketplace in the U.S. in 2013.
But even many gaming industry insiders are not aware that Delaware edged out New Jersey by mere days twice in taking the first legal traditional sports bets outside of Nevada in June 2018, as well as its state lottery offering the first iGaming platform in the U.S.
Delaware's gaming landscape at a glance
- 3 racinos
- 1 mobile sportsbook
There are three racinos in Delaware - Delaware Park in Wilmington, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway. Electronic gaming devices have been authorized at the tracks since 1994, and table games launched in 2009.
Prior to the Supreme Court decision in 2018, Delaware was unique in having been "grandfathered in" by the 1992 federal law that outlawed all sports betting aside from what a state may have previously offered. That allowed state lawmakers in 2010 to revive NFL-only parlay wagers that had been legal in Delaware a generation earlier.
NFL parlay wagers continue to be legal at various bars, restaurants, and convenience stores across the state, in addition to the lottery's mobile sportsbook operations.
2025 was a milestone for DE gaming revenue
The year 2025 featured a milestone for Delaware's commercial gaming industry revenue, as the $632.9 million total was the highest since 2006 - the same year that one of its neighboring states opened its first casino to aggressively recapture its state's resident discretionary gambling dollars that previously had been crossing the border.
The state's BetRivers iGaming platform led the way at $132.5 million - a figure more than double the 2024 revenue total, as the state's new partnership with the private operator has proven to be fruitful. Sports betting revenue of $34.2 million was up almost 40%, while brick-and-mortar casino revenue was relatively flat compared to 2024.
As a result, the state took in $281 million in gaming tax revenue last year - $63.2 million of which went to subsidizing horse racing purses.
Washington, D.C.'s growing sports betting industry
D.C's sports betting industry has been shifting upwards, with changes to the landscape allowing for more competition.
D.C. gaming at a glance
- 0 commercial casinos
- 2 retail sportsbooks, 6 mobile
- dozens of lottery retail
The District of Columbia has no commercial casinos, but it does have two retail sportsbooks, six mobile betting apps, and kiosks at dozens of lottery retail locations. Caesars Sportsbook at Capital One Arena and a FanDuel sportsbook at the Sports & Social bar are the retail sites in the district. The popularity of mobile sportsbooks led to the demise of the on-site sportsbooks at Nationals Park and Audi Field in 2025.
What the numbers say
D.C. claimed $94.5 million in gaming revenue in 2025. That led in turn to $22.1 million in tax revenue for the district.
The lottery's monopoly on sports betting proved unsuccessful from 2020-2023, but a change to a competitive industry led to a jump from $19 million in 2023 to $54 million in 2024 before another massive leap last year.
Last spring, Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed a measure to authorize bars, restaurants, and hotels to offer blackjack and poker as a way of luring back residents who currently partake in such gambling at nearby Maryland casinos. The D.C. Council did not include the recommendation in its final fiscal year budget, however.
