Operator News

US – Packed sports programme drives Pennsylvania betting to record September

By Phil - 19 October 2020

Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks took advantage of a perfect storm of major US sports in September to easily generate a record $462.8m in bets.

By doing so, Pennsylvania entered an exclusive club of gaming markets, joining New Jersey and Nevada, that have surpassed $450m in wagers in a single month, according to PlayPennsylvania.

“With the beginning of the NFL season, a full schedule of baseball, and the NBA and NHL playoffs, there may never be such a confluence of sporting events again,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Like New Jersey, Pennsylvania has created a well-rounded market that can drive significant action on every major sport. That market dynamic was able to bear fruit in September in a way that may never be fully possible again.”

September’s handle, which was released Friday, was up 137.9 per cent from $194.5m in September 2019 and easily surpassed the previous record of $365m set just last month. But the record wagers produced just $6.3m in taxable revenue, down from $18.3m in August and $14.9m in September 2019, a result of heavy promotion and some unlucky results for sportsbooks. September revenue yielded $2.1m in state taxes and another $125,398 in local share assessments.

The jump forward for the state was a product of the NFL’s return, and the atypical September games played by the NBA and NHL. Regardless, it helped put Pennsylvania in elite company.

“The question now becomes whether Pennsylvania can sustain this level once the sports calendar returns to normal,” said Valerie Cross, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Pennsylvania has etched a place in the top tier of gaming markets and could possibly pass Nevada as the nation’s No. 2 market before the end of the year.”

Online wagering accounted for 89.5 per cent, or $414.1m, of September’s handle. FanDuel Sportsbook/Valley Forge Casino extended its online supremacy with $168m in online bets, up 16.2 per cent from $144.6m wagered in August. Those bets produced $2.4m in taxable revenue, down from $8.9m in August. FanDuel was followed by DraftKings/The Meadows ($116.5m handle, up from $86.9m in August; -$1.2m taxable revenue, down from $1.2m), Parx Casino ($21.7m handle, down from $22.2m; $1.3m revenue, down from $1.5m)

Penn National’s mid-September launch of the Barstool Sports-branded sportsbook on the Hollywood Casino license, the 10th online sportsbook in the state, bears particular watching. Barstool/Hollywood Casino generated $29.9 million in bets, losing $2.8 million on those bets, in just two weeks of operation.

“Barstool adds a brand name with a uniquely loyal following, and its launch comes with high hopes,” Gouker said. “On the surface it seems like it has the potential to eat into the dominant market shares of FanDuel and DraftKings. But that is no easy task considering how entrenched both have become in the Pennsylvania market.”

In-person betting continued to rebound with $48.7m in bets in September. Retail sportsbooks won $5.1m on those bets, up from $2.8min August. Rivers-Philadelphia claimed the top retail spot with $11.4m in bets and gross revenue of $1.2m. Parx Casino was second with $7.7min wagers and $$866,870 in revenue.

Online casino games and poker continued their hot streak in September, combining to produce a record $57m in gross operator revenue, or $1.9m per day over the 30 days of September. That is up from August, when online gambling generated $55.9m, or $1.8m per day for the 31 days of August.

The rise in online gambling in Pennsylvania, which has skyrocketed amid the pandemic, continues to produce staggering sums in tax revenue. September’s revenue yielded $16m in state taxes and another $3.8m in local share assessments.

Most of the action comes from online table games and slots. Wagers reached $2bn in September, up from $1.9bn in August. That resulted in $54.7m in revenue, up from $53.2m in August.

“Pennsylvania’s online casinos generate nearly five times as much in bets as sports betting, and revenue doesn’t fluctuate nearly as much,” Cross said. “That has quickly made online gambling a dependable and significant tax revenue driver for the state, accomplishing the main goal of regulation.”

Rivers-Philadelphia, which includes PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers casinos, topped online casinos with $16.1m in revenue on $578.8m in wagers, down from $17.1m in revenue on $578.9m in wagers in August. DraftKings/Penn National generated $14.8m in revenue on $528.9m in wagers, up from $11.8m in revenue and $446.1m in wagers. FanDuel/Valley Forge collected $9.1m in revenue on $363.4m in wagers, up from $8.7m in revenue on $327.2m in bets.