Operator News
US – Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks slow as expected but still top $500m
By Phil - 19 March 2021
Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks slowed in February but still surpassed $500m in wagers for the third consecutive month, while online casinos tallied nearly $80m in revenue in February, bringing largely good news to the state.
“With just 28 days and a schedule with one NFL game, even if that game is the Super Bowl, a pullback from January to February is expected,” said Dustin Gouker, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Pennsylvania remains one of the strongest markets in the US, and March Madness will almost certainly put the state back on the upswing.”
Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks collected $509.5m in bets, according to official data released Tuesday. That was up 54.5 per cent from $329.8m in February 2020, though off from the record $615.3 million in bets in January.
February’s bets produced $16.4m in taxable revenue, up 246.9 per cent from $4.7m in February 2020, yielding $5.6m in state taxes.
The Super Bowl generated $53.6m in wagers alone, but that isn’t enough to replace a robust NFL schedule. The expected month-over-month dip will likely keep Pennsylvania from surpassing Nevada as the nation’s No. 2 market, something the Keystone State nearly did in January.
“Pennsylvania continues to post strong results month after month, but Nevada is a more event-driven market so the Super Bowl handle there is typically the nation’s highest,” Gouker said. “But at the current trajectory of both markets, it seems it’s not if but when Pennsylvania will become the nation’s No. 2 market.”
Online sports betting produced 92.2 per cent, or $469.7m, of February’s handle. FanDuel Sportsbook/Valley Forge Casino led the market with $176.3m in online bets, down from $220.7m in January. Those bets produced $7.3m in taxable revenue. DraftKings/The Meadows was second with $111.7m in bets, down from $143.5m in January, yielding $3m in taxable revenue.
The Barstool-branded Penn National/Hollywood Casino app finished February in third with $65.6m, up from $65m in January. It managed to gross $5.1m in revenue, but heavy promotion led to a $726,040 loss in taxable revenue.
Retail sportsbooks generated a $39.8m handle, up from $35.4m in January. Sportsbooks won $3m on February’s bets.
“Retail sportsbooks still have some time to go before they are back to normal, but with COVID infections dropping as vaccination levels rise, better days are hopefully not far away,” said Valerie Cross, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “In the online market, though, Barstool continues to make progress, keeping handle steady, but it took a huge promotional spend to do it.”
Online casinos and poker rooms generated $77.8m in gross revenue in February, which was down slightly from $80.4m in January revenue. But at $2.8m per day over the 28 days in February, revenue rose from $2.6m per day in January.
That yielded $21mn in state taxes. Yet Pennsylvania was the third-largest online casino market in the U.S. in February, after Michigan tallied $79.7m in its first full month.
“Pennsylvania’s online casinos are in a very good place,” Cross said. “Pennsylvania’s fall to No. 3 says more about Michigan’s rapid ascent than it does about anything in the Keystone State. Online casinos will continue to be a most reliable revenue generator for the state for the foreseeable future.”
