Pennsylvania Takes Rare Step Back In Gaming Revenue

With the recent years’ explosion of interest in online gambling — whether on casino games or sports betting — it has been common for the Pennsylvania gaming industry each month to surpass what it achieved in revenue in the year prior.

That is not, however, what occurred in November, according to data released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

While the commercial retail and digital operators combined for a healthy $444.5 million in revenue last month, that was 1.7% less than in November 2022, as well as 8% less than in October. It was the first time since February 2021 that the state’s industry experienced a year-over-year loss in any month.

The culprit, in this case, was sports betting. Unlike the house advantage that is predictably consistent in traditional casino games, the amount retained by operators from sports bettors can fluctuate widely each month based on how well customers do in wagering on events.

While Pennsylvania saw a record $934.1 million wagered on sports in November, the taxable revenue retained by sportsbook operators amounted to just $12.9 million, compared to $52.9 million in November 2022. The gaming board noted that was from a combination of both the operators’ relatively low 5.3% hold rate from bets and the arrival on the sports betting scene of PENN Entertainment’s ESPN BET with an introductory offer that involved giving away $14.8 million in promotional credits, which are not taxable by the state.

While sports betting revenue was down, operators’ $267.6 million earned from retail slots and table games was 1.1% more than a year ago and $158 million from Pennsylvania online casinos was 22.9% more than in the prior November. Last month also brought $3.4 million in truck stop video gaming terminal revenue and $2.6 million from fantasy sports contests.

Total tax revenue for state and local governments from legal commercial gambling amounted to $182 million last month, and despite its monthly dip, Pennsylvania will still easily surpass in 2023 the record $5.2 billion in revenue earned across the industry in 2022.

Online casinos have third straight strong month

With about 20 different online gaming options to choose from now, Pennsylvanians lost more than $150 million playing slots, table games, and poker by phone or computer for the third straight month.

The $158 million in operators’ collective revenue was up 2% over October and trailed slightly the record $159.5 million of September.

Pennsylvania’s gaming board does not publicly release internet casino revenue by individual operator, but instead groups monthly data according to whichever casino holds an iGaming license and then takes on digital partners.

November saw PENN’s Hollywood Casino license shared with DraftKings, BetMGM, and PointsBet total $61.1 million in November revenue, down slightly from the month before.

The Valley Forge Casino Resort license, consisting of the FanDuel and Stardust iCasinos, showed a healthy 16.1% increase from October to $41.1 million.

The Rivers Philadelphia license covering BetRivers, PlaySugarHouse, and Borgata experienced a 5.5% monthly decline to $27.7 million.

The two Caesars platforms of Harrah’s Philadelphia — one attached to its sportsbook and one separate as the Caesars Palace site — plateaued at $7.9 million after previously increasing in revenue each month since July.

Among independent operators unattached to Pennsylvania retail casinos, Golden Nugget at $3.1 million and Bally’s at $2 million both saw modest revenue improvements from the month before.

Retail casinos hold steady, mostly

The 17 retail casinos earned $267.6 million in slots and table games revenue in November, which was both a modest decline of 2.7% from October and slight 1.1% uptick from November 2022. For the most part, brick-and-mortar gaming revenue in the state has been relatively flat for several years.

Though overall numbers don’t change much, individual casinos’ performance can vary widely month to month and year to year.

Of the $189.7 million in statewide slots revenue, the $8.3 million earned by Harrah’s Philadelphia represented a sharp 13.6% decline from a year ago.

Meanwhile, The Casino at Nemacolin, which recently changed its name from Lady Luck under new operations, was up 30.4% year-over-year in slots win to $1.7 million; Hollywood Casino Morgantown was up 13.2% to $4.8 million; and Live! Philadelphia increased 12.5% to $11.6 million.

The casinos earned $77.9 million from table games, with several showing big improvements from November 2022: Valley Forge Casino Resort up 47% to $2.7 million; The Casino at Nemacolin up 46.6% to $201,452; Hollywood Casino at Penn National up 19.6% to $2.5 million; and Hollywood Casino York rising 16.3% to $1.6 million.

In the other direction with table games play, Hollywood Casino Morgantown slipped 29.5% to $644,681; Hollywood Casino at the Meadows was down 28.4% to $1.5 million; Harrah’s Philadelphia was off 24.4% to $2 million; and Rivers Philadelphia was down 20.5% to $7 million.

Parx Casino remains the statewide leader in retail slots revenue, with $29.7 million in November, while Wind Creek Bethlehem continued to earn the most from table games, with $20.9 million.