Pennsylvania casinos generate USD 2 M in sports betting revenue in December

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released Thursday its December monthly report for Sports Wagering, encompassing the full month returns from Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and partial month returns from SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. Both started sports betting operations on Saturday, December 15, 2018.

The monthly report, which will include additional facilities as they launch sportsbooks, provides a breakdown of the total handle collected, gross revenue, and taxes paid to the Commonwealth:

*includes revenue generated during two-day test periods prior to commencing regular operations.

Gross revenue retained by each casino varied significantly, from $299,222 at Hollywood, to $641,167 at SugarHouse to $1.1 million at Rivers, reflecting different levels of fortune by bettors at the different venues.

As reported by The Inquirer, revenue figures were released the same day as Parx Casino opened the state’s fifth sports-betting outlet at the South Philly Turf Club at 700 Packer Avenue, on the edge of the city’s stadium district. The Turf Club sportsbook is a satellite operation of the Parx sports-wagering operation that opened last week at the casino in Bucks County.

"You can finally make a legal sports bet in South Philadelphia," Parx Chief Executive Tony Ricci, a South Philly native, said at the opening of the sportsbook at the Turf Club.

Parx, which is the state’s top-grossing casino in Bensalem, is likely to attract a more modest handle at the Turf Club, which unlike a full-service casino, can only offer patrons horse-racing and some food and beverage services.

Parx spent $1 million to modify and update the Turf Club, which has been taking horse-racing wagers since 1994 and was due for an upgrade. As part of the modification, Parx increased the Turf Club’s admission age from 18 — the minimum age for horse betting — to 21, the minimum for sports betting.

The addition of the sportsbook will make the Turf Club more attractive as a sports bar, Parx officials said, and should help it to reinforce some loyalty with South Philadelphia sports bettors before the scheduled 2020 opening of the Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia next door, at 900 Packer Avenue.

The Live! Casino venture, which Parx’s parent company was a partner in before being bought out recently by the Cordish Group of Baltimore, is also expected to apply for a sports-betting license before it begins operations at the end of next year.

A total of $722,356 of tax revenue was generated and returned to the Commonwealth from sports wagering during December 2018. Pennsylvania has a 36 percent tax on sports betting revenues, one of the nation’s highest rates:

• State Tax (34% of adjusted gross revenue): $682,225.55
• Local Share Assessment (2% of adjusted gross revenue):$ 40,131.92

Pennsylvania and several other states, including New Jersey and Delaware, began sports betting after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized sports betting outside of Nevada.