Sports gambling in Delaware is feasible

Search

Another Day, Another Dollar
Joined
Mar 1, 2002
Messages
42,730
Tokens
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Gambling on professional and college sports in Delaware is feasible and could add more than $4 million a year to the state's general fund, a study group said Thursday.

A draft report by the group suggests that lottery-style sports gambling based on a Las Vegas model could generate $150 million in wagering annually, a figure disputed by opponents of the gambling proposal.

Members of the Sports Gaming Activities Study Committee voted 5-1 to declare in the report that sports gambling in Delaware was feasible, after some expressed reluctance to include a stronger recommendation in favor of sports gambling. The report will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Three members of the committee abstained from voting, and the lone dissenter was Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's finance secretary, David Singleton. The Minner administration is opposed to sports gambling.

The report envisions sports gambling as being run by the state lottery office and restricted to adults over 21 at the state's three slot-machine casinos. Betting would be allowed on all major professional and collegiate athletic events, except for those involving a Delaware college or university, and the state would retain risk-management experts to assist in establishing and revising odds and point spreads.

To meet lottery requirements that a game be based on chance rather than skill, and possibly to comply with a 1992 federal law under which Delaware has the chance to revive sports gambling, no simple winner-loser bets on single games would be allowed.

Instead, each wager would include a point spread, an "over-under" bet on total points scored, multiple games, or other elements to ensure that skill is not the determining factor in winning.

Because of a short-lived, unsuccessful professional football lottery in 1976, Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Oregon and Montana, to be grandfathered out of the 1992 federal prohibition against sports betting.

Lawyers for Delaware's three casinos have determined that, with the proper restrictions and structure, a sports lottery would be permissible under both federal law and the state constitution.

But lawyers hired by professional sports organizations, including the National Football League, believe sports betting as contemplated in Delaware would be prohibited by the state's constitution and lottery statute.

"I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not prepared to jump in with the two conflicting legal opinions," Singleton said in explaining his dissenting vote on the feasibility of sports betting.

While the report itself acknowledges the differing legal opinions, Edward Sutor, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment, said he has no doubt that the law allows sports betting in Delaware.

"It's legal, it's attractive, and it's doable," said Sutor, a member of the subcommittee that drafted the report.

Supporters of sports gambling say it will provide an economic boost to both the state and the casinos. They note that Delaware, which is facing a financial threat from the possibility of slot machines in neighboring Maryland and Pennsylvania, would have an East Coast monopoly on legalized sports betting.

Critics are worried about the social consequences, saying sports betting would create more gambling addicts, lure youngsters into gambling and reflect negatively on the athletes many people consider to be role models.

The National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and National Collegiate Athletic Association are all opposed to sport betting in Delaware.

Jay Moyer, special counsel to the NFL, said the exclusion of Delaware schools from potential sports betting was a "telling" acknowledgment that sports gambling could cause problems.

"If sports betting is not harmful, if it's not benign, why would you exclude events that people in the Delaware region, presumably, would be most interested in?" Moyer asked committee members.

Singleton and other opponents also questioned the financial projections included in the report.

According to estimates by gambling industry representatives Michael Knapp and Leonard Del Genio, Delaware could expect about $150 million in wagers annually, equal to the combined average sports book at three large Las Vegas casinos. They also estimate the "hold" retained by the casinos in Delaware to be about 7.5 percent, compared to about 4.6 percent for the Vegas sports books, resulting in about $11.2 million in revenue.

After subtracting operating expenses of about $4.7 million, the state would get about $4 million of the proceeds and the casinos would share about $1.2 million, with a similar amount going to the harness racing industry.

Critics believe Delaware's financial results would be more similar to those of Oregon, which since 1989 has run a professional football lottery, available in some 2,500 retail outlets. Over a period of more than 13 years, the sports lottery in Oregon, with about four times the population of Delaware, has generated only about $27 million in profits on sales of about $121 million.

By comparison, legal sports betting in Nevada drew $2.3 billion in wagering in fiscal 1998.

"Oregon, in my view, is the only real-world model for your projections," Moyer said. "Everything else is just pie in the sky."

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2003/may/22/052210143.html
 

It's like sum fucking Beckett play that we're rehe
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
2,917
Tokens
Can't compare Delaware to Oregon.
PA, NJ, and MD resident can spit on Delaware they are so close. Toss in all the NYC locals hangin at the casinos each weekend sending one of the boys on a little ride.
Big Bucks.

But why all the BS, just put up casinos and sportsbooks wherever we want. Indians are doing it anyway
 

New member
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
713
Tokens
To meet lottery requirements that a game be based on chance rather than skill, and possibly to comply with a 1992 federal law under which Delaware has the chance to revive sports gambling, no simple winner-loser bets on single games would be allowed.

Instead, each wager would include a point spread, an "over-under" bet on total points scored, multiple games, or other elements to ensure that skill is not the determining factor in winning.

______

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Legalize it then make way for the professional bookmakers. These people obviously don't know a damn thing about sports betting.
 

Another Day, Another Dollar
Joined
Mar 1, 2002
Messages
42,730
Tokens
On the surface, gambling and the Wilmington Riverfront look like a perfect match. Some state lawmakers admit the city is doomed to perpetual pauperism without new revenue. Other state lawmakers acknowledge the state's gambling income will decline without new markets, such as sports betting.

As expected, a task force studying the feasibility of legalizing sports betting is ready to endorse the idea. Its report, which will be delivered to the General Assembly next month, estimates sports wagering would generate $13 million a year for the state. Casino operators would rake in $19.3 million, and the horse racing industry, which gets a slice of slot machine revenue, would get $4 million.

There are wide disagreements over those figures, which assume bettors would plunk down as much money in Delaware as they do in Las Vegas. Critics doubt Delaware would see that much action. Supporters note that Delaware would have an East Coast monopoly on legalized sports wagering, and that before slot machines were legalized, the state's estimate of the sums involved was a tiny fraction of what materialized.

It's tempting to write off the whole report, because Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has made clear she's cool to any expansion of gambling. There are good reasons to shun this easy gambling money - the state is becoming too dependent on it (slots and lotteries bring in 20 percent of state revenue), and there's evidence that more opportunities to bet have led to an increase in problem gambling.

But we shouldn't let one basic assumption in this report go unchallenged - the idea that any expansion into sports betting should be handled not by Delaware's lottery office but by the state's horse tracks-turned-casinos. For all the revenue slots have brought in, they haven't produced anything like the spin-off value they could have if their locations had been chosen more carefully.

If the state had been looking out for the public instead of a failing horse racing industry, it wouldn't have plunked its casinos in suburban areas like north Dover, mid-New Castle County or a small town like Harrington. It would have put them where the inevitable economic spinoff might have done some good - a place like, oh, maybe the Wilmington waterfront.

Despite frequent talk of attracting out-of-staters to the Christina Riverfront, nothing so far has done any such thing. The subsidized restaurants and shops there mainly attract customers who would otherwise go to restaurants and shops elsewhere in Wilmington or its suburbs.

But sports betting emporium would attract bettors from all over the Northeastern megalopolis - many of whom would bring spouses who might do some shopping and dining nearby.

In addition, an operation run by the state lottery office wouldn't have to split the take with the casinos. Whatever the increased expenses, $19 million a year would probably cover them. If it wouldn't, the casino operators wouldn't be pushing for the idea in the first place.

Alas, it seems gambling and Wilmington will never get together. Too many politicians are scared of the possible backlash; others are safely in the casinos' pockets. They wouldn't be the first couple foiled by authority figures who just didn't understand.

http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=530&a=1435
 

Forum statistics

Threads
1,106,898
Messages
13,439,325
Members
99,339
Latest member
billcunninghamhomeloans
The RX is the sports betting industry's leading information portal for bonuses, picks, and sportsbook reviews. Find the best deals offered by a sportsbook in your state and browse our free picks section.FacebookTwitterInstagramContact Usforum@therx.com