The Delaware legislature took the first step toward establishing sports gambling in the state, approving a bill early Friday morning that was opposed by every major sports league in the USA along with the NCAA.
Days after a similar bill failed to garner enough votes in the state’s house of representatives, the reworked bill — which gave some concessions to the operators of the state’s three casinos — passed by a 30-4 margin. The bill still needs to be approved by the senate then signed by Gov. Jack Markell, who is looking to a sports lottery to help alleviate the state’s budget crisis.
“My administration worked with the leadership in the house and senate to get this done,” Markell said in a statement. “We never stopped fighting to do what was right for the taxpayers of Delaware.
Representatives from the casinos described the bill as just as bad as the initial proposal, but Markell said the new bill addresses all the issues. The casinos will be allowed to eventually install table games — only video poker and other electronic gaming are allowed now — and they will get an even split in the sports lottery revenue, up from a smaller chunk the original legislation offered.
Delaware, Oregon, Nevada and Montana were grandfathered in under a 1992 federal law that precludes states from establishing sports gambling. Delaware had a sports lottery briefly in the 1970s.
Still to be resolved is what exact form — from single-game betting to parlays — the lottery will take. Markell asked the State Supreme Court for their input on which format complies with state law, but his office received a response last week from the court saying it could not rule on the constitutionality of sports betting until after the bill passed. Markell again asked for an opinion, saying he expects the legislation to be approved by May 14.
“From an NCAA perspective, we oppose all kinds of sports wagering,” NCAA spokesman Stacey Osburn said. “Sports wagering is a problem, not a solution (to budget woes) from our perspective.”
The NCAA met with Delaware officials in March, according to Osburn. If the bill becomes law, the NCAA would bar the state’s universities from holding NCAA championships.
Such a ban led Oregon to abandon its sports lottery three years ago, giving the state the ability to play host to NCAA men’s basketball tournament games.
Delaware lacks the facilities to host major Division I postseason contests.
Source: USAToday, By A.J. Perez, Contributing: Ginger Gibson, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal, May 8, 2009
Casinos React to Del. Sports Betting Bill
DOVER, Del. – Sports betting could soon be coming to Delaware. Working late into the night and early morning, lawmakers in the state House of Representatives passed a sports betting bill.
But in it are changes from the original proposal:
*The bill passed would implement table games in the casinos as soon as possible.
*It drops the proposed sport betting licensing fee a half a million dollars to $4 million.
*It also raises the state’s share of gambling revenues by more than six points to six and a half, instead of the original eight.
This proposal would also make an exception for Harrington Raceway and Casino, lowering their taxes if its revenues fall. The bill was rejected by the House on Tuesday and after eight hours of deliberation behind closed doors, passed Friday morning.
But some say these changes aren’t enough of a compromise. Some local casino executives say they are upset.
The reason? The amount of taxes and casino revenue that will go to the state. Dover Downs President and CEO Ed Sutor says until casinos see the revenue from sports betting and table games, it’s not fair to ask for so much money from them.
He says if this proposal passes, it will have a detrimental effect on the state’s casinos.
“The thought of getting table games and sports better together, that seems wonderful, but at this price, we would rather not have either of those,” said Sutor.
While this is bad new for casinos, it may be hopeful for state workers. Gov. Jack Markell says sports betting and this compromise bill will help generate more than $52 million for state.
In a statement from his office today, Markell says,”The revenue generated from the sport betting proposal is going to help us meet the histroric budget challenge we face. Without it, it would not have been possible to even consider reducing the eight percent pay cut for workers. Going forward, the revenue in future years is critical to making the pay cut a temporary one. ”
The sports betting bill will be up for discussion in the state senate next week.
Source: WBOC16, May 8, 2009