Report Suggests Sports Betting

A new report commissioned by the Video Lottery Advisory Council – which is made up of casino executives – has suggested that perhaps sports betting legalization is what the state needs to continue to compete with neighboring states’ casinos. They say that the amount of revenue that could be brought in from the sports bettors would be in the area of $70 million a year.

However, what is misleading about that is they are counting on the majority of that money to come from slot machine players. They believe that people will come for the sports betting and stay to play the slot machines. Experts say that since gamblers usually stick to one game, the likelihood of very many sports betters becoming slot machine fans is slim at best.

The survey was based on 1,510 men currently living in either the state of Delaware or located within 150 miles of the state – in a metropolitan area. They surveyed New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore, and found that 13% of them would come to racinos in Delaware if sports betting were offered. Another 56% who already come say that they would try sports betting if it were offered, and then another 41% said that they would go to place bets on sports, even though they don’t go now.

The report said that people placing sports bets would end up being in the casinos for long periods of time and therefore would spend some of that time playing the slot machines. However, experts say that this kind of report isn’t usually based on fact – as they are asking people hypothetical questions. They say that by asking people if they will come they aren’t getting a true reading because many will say that they will come although they won’t really.


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