Pennsylvania sportsbooks mark lowest monthly hold on record in February

Pennsylvania sportsbooks saw a 64% decrease in revenue from January to February.

Pennsylvania’s 12 licensed sportsbooks handled a total of $329.8 million in bets, 5.34% lower than January, but collected only $11.4 million in gross revenue from that handle—a hold percentage of just 3.47%. That is by far Pennsylvania’s lowest monthly hold on record, with the second lowest being a 5.1% mark in December 2019. These figures were in contrast with a historically successful January, in which Pennsylvania sports betting operators totaled a record $31.6 million in revenue on a hold rate of 9.07%.

The average national hold in February 2019 was 5.18%. Full data on sports betting revenue is not yet available for February 2020, so it is unclear if the reduced hold is specific to Pennsylvania or a nationwide trend.

However, the state has now collected $2.1 billion in online and retail wagers since its industry was born in January 2019. By doing so, the state joined Nevada and New Jersey as the only states to have crossed the $2 billion threshold.

This success wasn’t necessarily sustainable because much of it came from unsuccessful bets on the local Philadelphia Eagles, who lost at home to the Seattle Seahawks in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.

FanDuel Sportsbook at Valley Forge Casino dominated the online market with $138.5m in February bets, down from $153.1m in January. That yielded $146,080 in taxable revenue, down from $8.1m. DraftKings at The Meadows has been a success story, too. In February, the firm generated $72.3m, up from $58.7m in January. Now the state’s clear number two, DraftKings has grown from $16.2m in its first month in November.

February’s gross revenue from slot machines at the 12 casinos was $199,666,274, a 5.1% increase in revenue when compared to the $189,976,152 generated in February 2019. The average number of slot machines operating on a daily basis was 24,122 compared to 25,277 at the casinos in the same month of the prior year.

Table games revenue for February 2020 was $77,426,025, an increase of 4.6% over February of last year when revenue was $73,999,311. Online casino games generated gross revenue of $19,490,815 during February. That figure is 39.6% higher than the previous month of January 2020 when revenue was $13,957,539.