SCHENECTADY — Rivers Casino and Resort continues to outperform among the state's three original commercial gaming facilities — growing the most in percentage of overall revenue compared with last year.

Although it's one of the smaller venues, Rivers saw total gross gaming revenue grow 11 percent over a 12-month period from December 2018 to November 2019 — bringing in a total of $169 million, according to Times Union analysis of publicly filed numbers with the state Gaming Commission.

The other two casinos that opened around the same time as Rivers, Tioga Downs in Tioga County and del Lago in Seneca County, saw growth of 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

The massive Resorts World Catskill in Sullivan County, the largest of New York's four commercial casinos, has not been open a full two years, so the same comparison is difficult. But after a troubling start, the 18-story all-suite resort and casino saw its profits soar by 60 percent from 2018 to 2019, an expected upswing as some of its other attractions — like a neighboring indoor family water park — were completed.

Rivers, which is run by Illinois-based Rush Street Gaming, would not provide someone to discuss the casino's continued growth.

Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural said he always assumed Rivers would be the most successful of the four facilities because it is the only one located near an urban center.

"You just have to look at the population and the type of people," said Gural, a New York real estate magnate who also owns the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey. "With sports betting trends, they're probably getting a lot of college kids. ... Del Lago is in the middle of nowhere; Monticello (Resorts World) is in the middle of nowhere. Without a question the best location in New York is Rivers."

Despite the favorable revenue uptick, Rivers had lobbyists at the Capitol earlier this year trying to sway state legislators to provide tax or other relief in the face of what it describes as competition coming from MGM Springfield two hours to the east. New York taxes placed on gaming revenue is mostly absorbed by state, but about 20 percent of the rest is distributed among host counties, towns and cities as well as and other neighboring municipalities.

Rivers' sports book, which opened in July, is also the highest-performing operation of the four casinos, bringing in about $1 million more when compared with the same months of operation as the next-highest performer, at del Lago.

“The Rivers Sportsbook has been a fantastic new amenity for the casino and we’re seeing additional guests on the property," Rivers said in a provided statement, noting its concert performances are also bringing in guests.

The take New York casino revenues:* Rivers 2018: $152.3 million 2019: $168.8 million Tioga Downs 2018: $77.6 million 2019: $83.1 million Del Lago 2018: $149.2 million 2019: $159 million Resorts World Catskills 2018+: $128.1 million 2019: $204.6 million + Resorts World opened in February 2018 *Time periods analyzed are Dec. 2017 to Nov. 2018, and Dec. 2018 to Nov. 2019. Revenue is total gross gaming revenue before any taxes are removed. Source: New York state Gaming Commission, Times Union research See More Collapse

The Schenectady casino's sports wagering business gradually increased to make $1 million just in the month of October. But it dropped to about half of that revenue by November.

Casino operators are fighting to get New York to authorize legal online gaming, as they believe many people are still staying home to illegally bet online. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration said earlier this year that there needs to be a constitutional amendment that would allow mobile wagering in New York. (Because such an amendment requires passage by two consecutively elected legislatures, the earliest the change could be put before voters is November 2021.)

Rivers has also unsuccessfully sued in an effort to categorize fantasy sports leagues run by sites like FanDuel and DraftKings as online wagering.

While the three established New York casinos — which in 2020 will enter their fourth year in business — all improved their revenue, it is still well below what the companies initially projected they would make when applying for their licenses in 2014. For example, del Lago estimated it might make $263 million its first year.

In the first 11 months of 2019, it had brought in $158 million.