Pennsylvania online casinos reach revenue of $130m

A five-week flurry of NFL action has helped break the Pennsylvania record in wagers with over $800m placed on bets throughout January. What’s more, Pennsylvania's online casinos boasted revenues of $130m for the first time.

PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker puts it simply: “Whether it’s sports betting or online casino gaming, more people are betting more often now than a year ago. And there is little reason to believe the growth will stop this year.”

Gouker is confident the figures support this. According to PlayPennsylvania, sportsbooks are up 29% from January 2021, achieving an additional $178.4m in revenue this January (2022). Official data released this Friday shows the upward market surge is continuing at an impressive rate month-on-month. PlayPennsylvania notes how ‘January’s handle rose 5.8% from $750.4m in December and topped the previous record of $776.3m wagered in October 2021.’

The gross revenue for sportsbooks across January was also up by 8.3% from January 2021 and up 17.9% from December. Subsequently, bookmaker's gross winnings topped $53.4m last month, and although there was $21.2m in promotional spending across the sector, sportsbooks were able to close the month with $32.2m in taxable revenue, while yielding $11.6m in state taxes and local share assessments.

PlayPennsylvania analyst Katie Kohler confirms the value of the additional NFL games to the gaming industry, noting the league staged “remarkably close games that kept bettors engaged from start to finish.”

In total, 92.9% of the state’s sportsbook market revenue was made through online accounts, with FanDuel leading Pennsylvania’s market; with 34.8% of the total revenue. DraftKings was FanDuel’s closest competitor with $197.6m made in wagers, with an $8.4m profit in gross revenue.

Pennsylvania’s brick-and-mortar sites generated $56.3m in revenue, shading December 2021’s previous best by 1.9%.

There were records of $130m in gross revenue across online casino and poker rooms, up 42.5% from January 2021. Online casino reached a taxable revenue of $108.3m, a record for the state of Pennsylvania.