Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania more than doubled month-on-month in July to $283.1m, as the state’s market continued to recover from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) shutdown.
Though revenue was only up 0.6% year-on-year from $281.5m in July 2019, the figure represented a 113.5% increase on $132.6m recorded in June of this year. This was down to the continuing strong performance of the state’s legal igaming products, aided by growth in the sports betting vertical.
The state’s casinos began to reopen in June – having been closed since March 16 due to Covid-19 – with all land-based casinos once again operational in July.
While this saw land-based gaming contribute the bulk of monthly revenue, both slots and table games reported year-on-year declines in revenue. Slots proved to be the main source of income, with revenue for the vertical amounting to $165.0m, down 17.3% from $199.6m last year.
Retail tables followed with $52.5m in revenue, but again this was down 31.8% from $77.0m in July 2019 as Pennsylvania continued with its recovery phase. Video gaming terminal revenue for the month also reached $2.1m in July.
Online casino was once again the stand-out performer, with revenue reaching $54.4m. While this represented a huge increase on the $812,306 reported for July 2019 – the month the vertical launched – it also represented an 8.6% month-on-month rise.
Online slots revenue amounted to $39.4m in July, with internet table games at $11.9m and poker $3.0m.
Rivers Casino Philadelphia remained some way out in front in the igaming sector with $15.5m in revenue, followed by Valley Forge Casino Resort (partnered with FanDuel) on $8.4m, just ahead of the Mount Airy Casino Resort and its partner PokerStars with $8.2m in revenue for the month.
Looking at sports betting, the return of certain sporting events helped grow the market in July, with revenue amounting to $8.1m. This was 179.3% higher than $2.9m last year, and also up 20.9% from $6.7m in June of this year.
Consumers continued to favour wagering over the internet, with online revenue from sports wagering totalling $6.9m, compared to $1.3m for retail. The state’s sports betting handle for July totalled $164.8m, while licensed operators paid a total of $2.9m in tax.
The Meadows Casino and its partner DraftKings claimed top spot in the sports wagering market, posting $1.9m in revenue. The operator did not launch its Pennsylvania sportsbook until November 2019, so there were no comparable figures, but this was higher than $1.3m in June this year.
The Valley Forge Casino Resort and FanDuel ranked second with $1.4m in revenue, followed by Rivers Philadelphia on $1.2m. Parx Casino was the only other operator to see revenue surpass $1.0m by posting $1.1m, though Rivers Pittsburgh came close with $998,658 in revenue for the month.
The PGCB figures also revealed a 25.6% year-on-year decline in fantasy sports revenue, which amounted to $925,738 in July, compared to $1.2m last year.
DraftKings and FanDuel were the only two operators of real note in this market, with DraftKings seeing revenue slip 1.3% to $673,337, while FanDuel said that revenue was down 54.0% to $250,069.
For the year-to-date, overall gambling in revenue in Pennsylvania amounted to $3.0bn. Retail slot revenue reached $1.87bn, with retail table games at $697.0m, igaming $295.3m and sports betting $121.8m.