{"id":55014,"date":"2017-07-22T14:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=55014"},"modified":"2017-07-21T13:26:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T20:26:11","slug":"delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Delaware Brick-and-Mortar Casino Sector Advisory Board Holds State’s Fate, While Keeping Cards Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Delaware land-based casino sector<\/a> has been hit hard by increased competition from new markets in neighboring states, as the newer and shinier casinos of Pennsylvania and Maryland outperform its three struggling, and highly taxed, racinos.<\/p>\n

\"Delaware
Dover Downs is Delaware\u2019s biggest and only publicly traded racino, but high domestic taxes and increased competition across the state line means hard times for the property and the state\u2019s two other racinos. (Image: Dover Downs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sector, which comprises Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs, and Delaware Park, peaked in 2006, the year Pennsylvania began issuing its first casino licenses, when slot revenues hit more than $650 million. By 2016, slots and table revenues combined had plunged to $398 million.<\/p>\n

\n

Meanwhile, outfall from the new MGM National Harbor<\/a>, which opened in Maryland late last year, stands poised to be the final nail in the coffin. That\u00a0property caused other casinos in Maryland and West Virginia to ramp up their own marketing drives, drawing even more customers away from Delaware\u2019s ailing properties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The three racinos cannot compete because they pay higher state taxes than their counterparts across the border, and they\u2019re begging \u00a0legislators for help.<\/p>\n

Taxed Out of the Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This week, the Delaware\u2019s Video Lottery Advisory Council (VLAC) met to discuss the status of Diamond State\u2019s three casinos. The council is tasked with advising government policy on gambling and could urge lawmakers to pass a casino relief measure.<\/p>\n

But the racinos will have to wait. VLAC will not publish its recommendations until the fall, and until then, it’s keeping tight-lipped.<\/p>\n

Legislation that would have provided relief by creating marketing and capital credits, while quashing the table game fee and lowering the tax rate on table games, received short shrift in the General Assembly in 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n

Begging for a Lifeline <\/strong><\/h2>\n

While there is sympathy for the racinos\u2019 plight in the legislature, a large budget deficit has made it difficult for a bill advocating tax relief to gain much traction. Still, something has to be done, says Ed Sutor, president and CEO of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, as he urged VLAC to throw the racinos a lifeline.<\/p>\n

Sutor told the Delaware State News<\/em> that a simple concession that could be easily enacted would be to permit the racinos to operate on Christmas and Easter, which would bring in an estimated $2.25 million more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the only casinos in the country that shut down completely on Easter and Christmas,\u201d said Sutor. \u201cWe can\u2019t give up, folks, and we can\u2019t sit out another year of not doing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Delaware land-based casino sector has been hit hard by increased competition from new markets in neighboring states, as the newer and shinier casinos of Pennsylvania and Maryland outperform its three struggling, and highly taxed, racinos. The sector, which comprises Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs, and Delaware Park, peaked in 2006, the year Pennsylvania began issuing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":55015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDelaware Casino Sector Fate in Hands of Advisory Board<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Delaware\u2019s three racinos are struggling in the face of competition from casinos in Pennsylvania and Maryland, which is exacerbated by hefty taxes at home.\u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Delaware Casino Sector Fate in Hands of Advisory Board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Delaware\u2019s three racinos are struggling in the face of competition from casinos in Pennsylvania and Maryland, which is exacerbated by hefty taxes at home.\u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-22T21:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-21T20:26:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/hotel-entrance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"582\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/\",\"name\":\"Delaware Casino Sector Fate in Hands of Advisory Board\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/hotel-entrance.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-22T21:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-21T20:26:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Delaware\u2019s three racinos are struggling in the face of competition from casinos in Pennsylvania and Maryland, which is exacerbated by hefty taxes at home.\u00a0 \u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/delaware-casino-sector-fate-in-hands-of-advisory-board\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/hotel-entrance.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/hotel-entrance.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":582,\"caption\":\"Dover Downs is Delaware\u2019s biggest and only publicly traded racino, but high domestic taxes and increased competition across the state line means hard times for the property and the state\u2019s two other racinos. 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