Another Bountiful Month For Online Gambling In Pennsylvania

November saw record iCasino revenue, high sports betting volume and revenue
bountiful harvest
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Pennsylvania’s iGaming operators continue to find a bountiful harvest from their fall numbers, as November’s online casino revenue set another record and sports betting revenue climbed while the sports handle nearly matched October’s historic high.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released the monthly revenue report for November Monday. While it showed a drop in spending at brick-and-mortar casinos from the year before and from October, the companies involved in online gaming had plenty to boast about.

November’s sports betting volume of $789.2 million (93.2% of it online) was off slightly from the record $793.7 million of October, which may be attributable to there being just four weekends of football action compared to five the month before. The handle was up 3.6%, meanwhile, from the $761.6 million in November 2021.

Revenue among the sportsbooks was an unusually strong $70 million, with $52.9 million of that retained as taxable, adjusted revenue after deductions for promotions. That revenue total was exceeded all-time only by the prior November’s $84.9 million/$63.7 million.

The online casinos in most cases share platforms with sportsbooks, and they reported $128.6 million in revenue, up from October’s record of $124.5 million. It was also 37% more than the $93.9 million they cleared in November 2021.

Brick-and-mortar casino revenue across the state amounted to $264.8 million, compared to $278.9 million last month and $268.4 million from the retail slots and table games a year earlier.

Overall, commercial gaming revenue in the state added up to $452.4 million in November, with state and local governments able to claim $181.8 million of that as taxes.

FanDuel cementing its claim to the top

FanDuel only strengthened its position as the state’s most popular online sports betting site, with its $295.3 million in November handle amounting to 40.1% of all mobile bets taken. Its revenue of $36.2 million gross and $28.4 million adjusted represented more than half of all Pennsylvania online sportsbook revenue, as its hold from bettors at 12.3% far exceeded the statewide online hold of 8.9%.

Back in September, second-place DraftKings had closed the gap considerably on FanDuel, but that has widened again in the following two months. DraftKings suffered an 8.4% decline in handle last month from October, to $209.8 million, giving it 28.5% of the online market. As with most operators, however, its revenue was up, reaching $14.3 million gross/$11.9 million adjusted.

BetMGM showed a significant 26.6% increase in betting volume from October, reaching $70 million, with $6.1 million/$2.3 million in revenue.

Barstool Sportsbook remained the fourth site in usage, with $47.3 million in handle, $2.6 million in gross revenue, and $1.9 million in adjusted revenue, all up somewhat from the prior month.

Those four sites collectively take about 85% of online handle among 14 sites in the state, and they claimed an even higher percentage of revenue last month.

Online casinos keep heating up

While having fewer weekends in a month may impact the total volume of both sports betting and casino visitation, it apparently has less effect when it comes to online casinos. The $128.6 million earned by the 18 iCasinos in November was 3.3% higher than in October, which itself had set a new record.

Their revenue for the month broke down as $86.6 million they kept from customers playing slots, $39.5 million from table games, and $2.5 million from online poker play. The big difference there was in table games, up about $3.8 million while the other formats were steady.

Unlike for sports betting revenue numbers, the gaming board does not break down the report by individual operators.

In-person gambling in a slumber

It is common for casino visitation to decline as the months turn colder, and that was no exception in Pennsylvania in November, with revenue down 5% from the month before.

As a worse comparison, however, the 16 casinos in operation now — with the Hollywood Casino Morgantown mini-casino having opened last December — could not match revenue from the 15 that existed in November 2021.

Last month’s $264.8 million from slots and table games played in person was down 1.3% from a year earlier. In general, brick-and-mortar revenue has not been strong in 2022, possibly due to the impact of inflation, gas prices, and other economic factors on regular customers’ visitation and spending habits.

Photo: Shutterstock

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