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Business Operations
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Business Operations  
Business Operations

NOTE 2 - Business Operations

 

We are a premier gaming and entertainment resort destination whose operations consist of:

 

·                  Dover Downs Casino — a 165,000-square foot casino complex featuring popular table games, including craps, roulette and card games such as blackjack, Spanish 21, baccarat, 3-card and pai gow poker, the latest in slot machine offerings, multi-player electronic table games, the Crown Royal poker room, a Race & Sports Book operation, the Dover Downs’ Fire & Ice Lounge, the Festival Buffet, Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House, Frankie’s Italian restaurant, as well as several bars, restaurants and four retail outlets;

 

·                  Dover Downs Hotel and Conference Center — a 500 room AAA Four Diamond hotel with a full-service spa/salon, conference, banquet, ballroom and concert hall facilities; and

 

·                  Dover Downs Raceway — a harness racing track with pari-mutuel wagering on live and simulcast horse races.

 

All of our gaming operations are located at our entertainment complex in Dover, the capital of the State of Delaware.

 

In February 2013, we opened our first Herschel’s Famous 34 Pub & Grill in Athens, Georgia.  Herschel’s Famous 34 is a 110-seat sports-themed restaurant owned and operated by us on approximately 4,100 square feet of leased property.  We have license rights to the name and likeness of former professional football star Herschel Walker for restaurant operations.

 

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. is a public holding company that has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Dover Downs, Inc. and Dover Downs Gaming Management Corp.  Dover Downs, Inc. was incorporated in 1967 and began motorsports and harness racing operations in 1969.  In June of 1994, legislation authorizing video lottery operations in the State of Delaware (the “State”) was adopted.  Our casino operations began on December 29, 1995.  As a result of several restructurings, Dover Downs, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dover Motorsports, Inc. (formerly known as Dover Downs Entertainment, Inc.) (“DVD”), and became the operating entity for all of DVD’s gaming operations.

 

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. was incorporated in the State in December of 2001 as a wholly owned subsidiary of DVD.  Effective March 31, 2002, DVD completed a tax-free spin-off of its gaming operations by contributing 100% of the issued and outstanding common stock of Dover Downs, Inc. to Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc., and subsequently distributing 100% of our issued and outstanding common stock to DVD stockholders.  Immediately following the spin-off, Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. became an independent publicly traded company.

 

Dover Downs, Inc. is authorized to conduct video lottery, sports wagering, table game and internet gaming operations as one of three “Licensed Agents” under the Delaware State Lottery Code.  Licensing, administration and control of gaming operations in Delaware is under the Delaware State Lottery Office and Delaware’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Division of Gaming Enforcement.

 

Our license from the Delaware Harness Racing Commission (the “Commission”) to hold harness race meetings on our premises and to offer pari-mutuel wagering on live and simulcast horse races must be renewed on an annual basis.  In order to maintain our gaming license, we are required to maintain our harness horse racing license.  We have received an annual license from the Commission for the past 44 consecutive years and management believes that our relationship with the Commission remains good.

 

Due to the nature of our business activities, we are subject to various federal, state and local regulations.  As part of our license arrangements, we are subject to various taxes and fees which are subject to change by the Delaware legislature.

 

Additional gaming venues have recently opened in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These new venues — particularly a large casino at Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland which opened in June 2012 with slot machines and subsequently added table games in April 2013 — are having a significant adverse effect on our visitation numbers, our revenues and our profitability. Management has estimated that approximately 31% of our total gaming win comes from Maryland patrons and approximately 66% of our Capital Club® member gaming win comes from out of state patrons.

 

On June 28, 2012, the State enacted the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 (the “Act”), under which Delaware’s video lottery agents will be authorized to offer, through their websites, internet versions of their table games (including poker) and video lottery offerings.  All games will remain under the control and operation of the Delaware Lottery.  These internet gaming offerings capitalize on a recent United States Department of Justice ruling clarifying that wagering within a state’s boundaries does not violate the federal Wire Act.

 

Internet lottery games will, at least initially, be offered solely to persons within the State of Delaware.  This territorial limitation would not apply to gaming pursuant to an interstate compact.  Internet gaming participation will be limited to persons who meet the age requirements for equivalent non-internet games.

 

Revenues from the internet versions of table games and video lottery games will be distributed generally pursuant to the formula currently applicable to those games, with the exception that internet service provider costs will be deducted first, and the Delaware Lottery will retain the first $3.75 million of state-wide net proceeds.  The Act also eliminated and restructured certain fees currently paid by video lottery agents to incentivize agents to make capital expenditures, spend on marketing and promotions, and make debt service payments.  In February 2012, we paid a $1,540,000 gaming license fee, which was for the period July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 — this fee was eliminated beginning July 1, 2012.  In June 2012, we paid a $2,241,000 table game license fee, which was for the period July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013.  This fee decreased to $1,017,000 for the period July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 and was paid in June 2013.

 

We anticipate that we will begin offering internet gaming in the fourth quarter of 2013.

 

On July, 1, 2013, the State enacted a bond and capital improvements bill which appropriates $8,000,000 to the Department of Finance to be used to offset increases in vendor costs that the three Delaware video lottery agents would otherwise be required to pay for the period July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014.  Additionally, the bill created a Lottery & Gaming Study Commission responsible for examining the competitive marketplace confronting the Delaware gaming industry, including the business performance and business plans of existing lottery agents, the marketing efforts and investments made by Delaware video lottery agents, and the division of revenue from the video lottery, sports lottery, table games and internet gaming.  The commission’s findings and recommendations are due by January 31, 2014.