Delaware Casinos Debate Table Gaming Taxes with Lawmakers

Delaware officials were told by an advisory committee that planned taxes and licensing for sports betting and table gaming at state casinos is too high.

Delaware's new expanded gambling laws make make the state a tidy profit, but casino operators are worried they might actually lose money in the deal. A panel appointed by the legislature and led by Dover Downs President Ed Sutor to advise lawmakers on taxation of proposed table gaming is saying the casinos may not be profitable under current regulations.

Sutor said the $4 million licensing fee for sports gambling will probably cause casinos to lose money on sports betting. Even after extra traffic drawn to slot machines is figured into projections, Sutor says the casinos will only break even with what they are already making.

Sutor says the sports book license is too high, and would be better suited as a table game license.

"You're putting the licensing fee in the wrong place," said the race track CEO to state officials. "It should be on table games, not sports betting."

Sutor argued that the casinos should expect a profit of eight percent, and compared the gaming venues to the regulated utility monopolies in the state, which are controlled to receive a profit of eight percent or slightly higher.

State officials want to tax the table games, estimated to draw $150 million in new revenue, at a rate of sixteen percent. But while that would allow a ten percent table profit, it wouldn't undo the loss taken due to the license, leaving overall casino profit at five percent or less.