As a public/private state panel in Delaware debates once again on remedies to recommend to help the state’s three racinos out of a years-long slump due to increased competition, the state’s only publicly traded casino company, Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, reported quarterly earnings that show the immediate effects of that competition.
Dover Downs Entertainment, parent company of the Dover Downs casino and raceway in the Delaware state capital, reported a profit of $32,000 for the second quarter of 2017, improving on a $184,000 first-quarter loss. However, when compared to the same quarter last year, the figure represents a 96 percent drop from the $796,000 profit in the same quarter in 2016.
In an interview with Delaware’s News Journal, Dover Downs Entertainment CEO Denis McGlynn acknowledged that competition from out-of-state casinos—including Maryland’s latest, the MGM National Harbor property opened last December—has put a strain on the property’s bottom line. However, McGlynn and Ed Sutor, president and CEO of the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, have also blamed the Delaware law requiring them to close on Christmas and Easter as a drag on profits. Easter falls in the second quarter.
“The balance of our performance reflects the expected impacts of our increasingly competitive market,” McGlynn told investors during a conference call. “We are continuing to analyze the market changes and adjusting our response accordingly.”
The income report comes as the Delaware Video Lottery Advisory Council continues meetings on ways to relieve the industry of some of the high tax and fee burden as a way to replace a portion of revenues lost to increased competition from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Every year since 2014, the council—a panel of state government officials and casino executives—has delivered a set of recommendations to the state legislature to help the casinos. Recommendations to reduce revenue taxes, eliminate fees and give tax credits for capital improvements have all been rejected by the lawmakers.
