Pennsylvania sports betting endured a similar fate to many other states with declining July handle but strong hold resulting in increased gross gaming revenue.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s results reveal the state’s legal sports betting operators took $338.5 million in handle across retail and online. Total handle was down 9.2% month-over-month to June 2023 but up a marginal 0.6% from $336.5 million year-over-year.
July 2023 retail handle was $22.3 million, with gross revenue $3.0 million. This represented a 6% decrease in handle month-over-month from $23.8 million, however a 130.8% increase in revenue from $1.3 million in June 2023. Retail channel mix was 6.6%, compared with 7.4% in July 2022. Retail mix for FY23 in its entirety was 7.2%.
The remainder of handle and revenue is attributable to online operations. Handle from online sports wagering in Pennsylvania was $316.1 million, down 9.5% from $349.4 million in June. Taxable revenue (handle – winnings – promotional credits) was $29.1 million, up from $21.7 million representing a 34.1% increase.
Online gaming continued to perform strongly in Pennsylvania. PA online casino revenue grew 34.8% year-over-year to $132.9 million for July. This was primarily down to revenue from slots, with $94.9 million from slots (increase of 31.9%) and $35.4m from table games. Wagers received for online slots was $2,628 million, with $2,091 million wagered on table games.
On a month-over-month basis, total casino revenue was down 19.3% from $164.9 million.from June 2023. Rake from poker fell, as did revenue from slots while table game revenue rose slightly.
The leading iGaming provider was Hollywood Casino at Penn National with $54.4 million in reported revenue. Valley Forge Casino recorded $29.2 million, with Rivers Casino rounding off the top three with $26.8 million.
NeoGames and Scientific Games recently penned a three-year iGaming content deal in PA with the state’s lottery, to provide its instant lottery games to the Pennsylvania Lottery. The state lottery does not report through the Gaming Control Board.