Pennsylvania's sports betting revenue up 144%, boosted by NFL season start

Sports betting surged to record highs in Pennsylvania last month, the first full month of professional and college football seasons, according to state regulators.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Thursday said that bettors wagered $194.5 million on sports in September, up 78.4% from August. Legal bookmakers reported $14.88 million in gross revenue from sports betting, an increase of 144% from the previous month.

Pennsylvania took in $5.3 million in tax revenue from sports betting, based upon its 36% tax rate on gross revenue — 2% is set aside for host communities.

By comparison, New Jersey generated a handle of $184 million in September 2018, the first full month Garden State bettors were able to legally wager on NFL games. New Jersey's handle grew to $445.6 million in September 2019, hinting at just how much growth is possible in Pennsylvania.

The Valley Forge Casino Resort, one of Pennsylvania’s smaller casinos, leads sports betting market in Pennsylvania by virtue of its partnership with FanDuel. More than 45% of all sports bets placed in Pennsylvania in September — $88.5 million — were wagered with FanDuel or in Valley Forge’s retail operation. The casino reported $5.1 million in sports-betting revenue in September, and more than 92% was generated from online betting.

SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Parx Casino in Bensalem were ranked second and third for sports-betting revenue, with $2.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively. Both casinos reported more than $1 million in revenue generated at their brick-and-mortar retail operations, and the rest from the internet. Parx’s two satellite sportsbooks at its off-track betting locations in South Philadelphia and in Audubon generated an additional $636,000 in revenue.

Overall gaming revenue in the state during September from all sectors was 3.90% above September 2018 numbers, including slot machines, table games, online gaming, retail and online sports wagering, fantasy contests and video gaming terminals. Total tax revenue generated collectively through all forms of gaming and fantasy contests was $116,564,227.

Online casino game gross revenue totaled $4,135,358 during September, a 20.6% increase over the August 2019 revenue total of $3,428,640. Tax revenue generated from internet gaming play during September was $2,533,719.

September’s gross revenue from slot machines at the 12 casinos was $188,376,961, a 4% decrease from September 2018, and tax revenue from the vertical was $96,886,088. The average number of slot machines operating on a daily basis was 23,154, down from 25,471 at the casinos in September 2018.

Table games revenue for September 2019 was $70,608,678, a decrease of 2.35% over the same month of last year. Total tax revenue from this segment was $11,345,069 with an average of 1,269 tables in daily operation statewide compared to 1,281 tables in operation last September.