Casinos, Country Clubs & Qatar Airways: Delaware Spending Worth a Second Look

Every payment Delaware makes is public record. Most of it is unglamorous — payroll, Medicaid, teacher salaries. But inside 13.3 million checks and 1.4 million credit-card swipes, some lines make you read them twice. Here they are, each with the context the state would want you to have. What you make of them is your call.

$665 million for casinos and slot machines

The record: Since FY2018, Delaware's checkbook shows $665 million in payments categorized "Video Lottery." The state's three racetrack casinos received $398 million of it, and slot-machine manufacturers collected most of the rest.

The context: Delaware is one of the few states where the lottery — including slot machines — is state-run. Casinos host the machines and receive a contractual share of what players lose; the manufacturers lease and service the machines. Most of this money originates from gamblers, not the General Fund. Still, it's an unusual arrangement: few state checkbooks have a line item that reads "video lottery."

One law firm collected $53.6 million

The record: Delaware paid outside law firms $333 million over nine years. The largest payee appears twice in the books — Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP ($27.5 million) and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP ($26.1 million) — the same firm before and after a merger, totaling $53.6 million. Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor follows at $23.9 million, with Connolly Gallagher ($15.0 million) and Barnes & Thornburg ($13.7 million) next.

The context: States hire outside counsel for bond work, major litigation, and specialized cases. The records show what was paid, not which cases it bought — so whether $53.6 million to one firm is a trusted relationship or a comfortable one is left for the reader.

Overtime: $619 million, and rising 50%

The record: Overtime pay grew from $56.0 million in FY2018 to $84.2 million in FY2025, settling at $79.9 million in FY2026 — $619 million over nine years.

The context: Overtime concentrates in 24/7 operations — prisons, hospitals, state police — where vacancies force coverage. Whether it's a staffing strategy or a staffing shortage depends on who's asking.

Image and memberships

The record: Advertising cost $167.3 million. Association dues and conference fees ran $91.4 million. Employee recognition — awards and gifts — added $10.1 million, plus $11.7 million in promotional supplies.

The context: Advertising includes public-health campaigns and tourism marketing that aims to bring money in. Dues keep state agencies in national associations. Recognition programs are common in large workforces. The totals are what they are.

57,991 trips to Amazon

The record: State purchasing cards were swiped at Amazon 57,991 times for $7.37 million. Apple took $1.33 million. Chick-fil-A saw $566,899 across 4,674 swipes, Wawa $486,231 across 5,580, Starbucks $32,807.

The context: P-cards exist precisely for small purchases — the average Amazon swipe is about $127, and the whole program is roughly 0.5% of the checkbook. Classroom supplies, office gear, working lunches. Routine? Probably. Visible? Completely.

$1.24 million at the gun shop

The record: Two spellings of the same Wilmington-area dealer — "THE GUN SHOP" ($922,559) and "THEGUNSHOP" ($312,578) — total $1.24 million across 114 card swipes, plus $28,043 to Federal Firearm LLC.

The context: Delaware State Police and other agencies buy duty weapons, parts and training supplies. There's no suggestion of anything else — but it's a striking number to find on employee credit cards.

Planes, resorts and casino hotels

The record: State cards charged about $100,000 on Qatar Airways — including the Department of Safety & Homeland Security ($41.9K), the Department of State ($36.6K) and the Executive office ($14.5K). Delaware Tech spent roughly $97,000 on Aer Lingus and $25,514 on Air New Zealand. State cards also rang up about $78,000 at Las Vegas casino hotels (Paris, the Mirage, Caesars, South Point, Westgate) and about $970,000 at Gaylord resorts in Nashville, National Harbor and Texas — most of it charged by school districts, led by Red Clay ($147K) and Appoquinimink ($65K).

The context: Delaware Tech runs study-abroad programs. National education conferences are routinely hosted at Gaylord properties, which offer negotiated conference rates — and Vegas casino hotels are where many national association conferences book by default. Why homeland security and the Executive office flew long-haul international routes, the records don't say.

Breweries, bars and Topgolf

The record: Card swipes categorized as bars, taverns and nightclubs total about $65,000 — Docklands Riverfront ($8.9K), Catherine Rooney's Irish pub ($8.1K), the Starboard in Dewey Beach ($7.0K) among them. Brewery restaurants add more: EasySpeak Spirits ($19.8K), Iron Hill ($8.9K), Brick Works Brewing ($7.4K), Big Oyster ($8.2K), Stitch House ($4.5K), Crooked Hammock ($4.5K), Dogfish Head ($1.5K). Golf outings include Topgolf ($11K+) and country clubs — Maple Dale ($18.8K, with charges from the Judicial branch and $3,459 from the Auditor of Accounts, the office that audits everyone else's spending), Wild Quail ($15.0K), Newark Country Club ($3.5K) and DuPont Country Club ($800).

The context: Working meals, recruitment events and team outings are ordinary government life, and most of these charges are small. The records show where the card was swiped — not who attended or what was discussed.

Worth knowing before you judge

• Everything above — casinos, guns, golf, Qatar — is well under 1% of the checkbook. The boring majority is Medicaid ($25.2B), employee medical ($10.7B), salaries ($7.9B) and teachers ($6.6B).
• Some lines are pass-throughs: $108.7M in union dues and $665M of video-lottery money flow through the state but belong to others.
• "Tuition out-of-state/private" ($168M) is largely the state paying for students with special needs whose placements Delaware can't serve in-state.

Verify it yourself

Every number here is reproducible in minutes: the checkbook explorer and credit-card explorer on this site, or the raw records at data.delaware.gov — free, no account, no FOIA request. If you find something we should look at twice, the data is right there waiting.