After years of declining slot revenue, Delaware casinos officials say, as a whole, the group had a slight uptick in the past few months.
That snaps 34 straight quarters of falling revenue according to Ed Sutor, President and CEO of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino.
Most of the gains, Sutor says, were seen at Dover Downs and Delaware Park, while Harrington Raceway & Casino CEO Patricia Key notes her share was flat or slightly negative.
“It’s very similar to other states around us,” said Sutor, attributing the minor boost to the decrease in gas prices nationwide.
Further details about Dover Downs’s financial situation will be released Thursday, as Delaware’s lone publicly traded casino offers its its latest quarterly earnings report. The company cut 72 positions in the first half of the year -- mostly through attrition -- and dropped overnight table game hours on weekdays.
That shot in the arm might be brief, as two new casino and hotel ventures are set to open within the next two years in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
“Competition from nearby states hasn’t decreased. If anything, the future looks like it’ll get even tighter,” Sutor said.
The news came at the final Video Lottery Advisory Council meeting for 2015, where the three casinos voted unanimously on the same recommendations they put forward last year to state officials.
They include restructuring how Delaware shares slot money into a tiered system and fully splitting video lottery vendor costs among the casinos, the state and horsemen associations.
Decreasing table game tax rates and fees, as well as netting capital and marketing expense credits are also priorities.
Most of those are included in a bill backed by Sen. Brian Bushweller (D-Dover) that would cost taxpayers up to $45.8 million annually when fully implemented.
The legislation went nowhere as state lawmakers took most of the session to fight over increased infrastructure spending and remained deadlocked on any long-term revenue fix.
“It may have been,” too ambitious, said Sutor. “But it could have easily been modified. Rather than it occurring in one year, it could’ve been spread over three or four.”
The bill can still be worked through the end of next June before it expires, with casino executives saying they hope they’re part of any solution.
Legislators gavel back in to full session Jan. 12.
