March Madness Boosts Sportsbook Handle To $800 Million In PA

Written By Corey Sharp on April 18, 2024 - Last Updated on April 19, 2024
UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net after the Huskies won the 2024 NCAA championship. March Madness pushed Pennsylvania sports betting handle over $800 million in sports betting in March, falling right in line with PlayPA's projection.

The NCAA Tournament brings plenty of excitement to Pennsylvania sports betting. Despite Duquense as the only Keystone State representative, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reported $800.7 million in total bets and $63.7 million in revenue for the state in March.

PA online sportsbook handle had a strong March, despite no NFL or college football games on the schedule. Pennsylvania turned in a better March than it did September, when operators recorded $726.3 million.

PlayPennsylvania Managing Editor, Dave Briggs, said:

“It was far and away the best March handle Pennsylvania sportsbooks have ever had, proving Pennsylvanians love their basketball. The fact total betting in March was up 10% year-over-year, 12% compared to March of 2022 and a whopping 43% since March of 2021 also proves the growing popularity of sports betting in the commonwealth.”

March 2024 numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting

💰 Handle: $800.7 million (21% MoM increase; 10.7% YoY increase)

💸 Revenue: $63.7 million (26.4% MoM decrease; 4.2% YoY decrease) / Adjusted Gross Revenue (taxable): $45.6 million

👐 Hold: 8.0% (up from 7.6% last month)

💻 Percent of bets placed online: 94.8%

🎁 Promotional credits: $18.1 million

🧾 March sports betting taxes: $15.4 million

🏢 State and local entities: $911,631

📱 Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook PA with $333.2 million

📱 Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook PA with $32.2 million

Quick analysis from March PA sports betting figures

  • Handle in the Keystone State fell right in line with PlayPennsylvania‘s projections last month. PA online sportsbooks increased March handle in each of the previous three years. Last month was the state’s best March ever. Despite having only one Pennsylvania team reach the NCAA Tournament, PPG Paints Arena hosted first and second round which brought notable programs to the state such as Kentucky, Creighton, Oregon and South Carolina. It also included a huge upset, when Oakland, a 14 seed, knocked off Kentucky in Pittsburgh.
  • Fanatics posted even stronger numbers the second full month of operation in Pennsylvania. After recording nearly $16 million in February handle, the new operator more than doubled that total in March. Fanatics’ $31.9 million in March handle placed itself sixth in the state, already ahead of BetRivers. Fanatics finished about $1.5 million behind Caesars for the fifth slot.
  • FanDuel Sportsbook PA is the only online platform that has posted a hold rate of more than 10% this year. The operator is overwhelming leader, acquiring 42.3% of market share so far in 2023. It’s 11.4% hold has yielded $111.9 million in  YTD revenue, more than double DraftKings’ $53.1 million.

PA sportsbook handle by operator in March 2024

LicenseeOnline BrandHandleRevenueHoldTaxes
Valley ForgeFanDuel$333,189,800$32,225,9909.7%$8,767,545
Hollywood MeadowsDraftKings$209,222,648$14,878,2457.1%$3,864,112
Hollywood Penn NationalESPN BET$54,637,036$3,360,3826.2%$592,526
Hollywood MorgantownBetMGM$51,939,662$3,747,7117.2%$632,256
Harrah's PhiladelphiaCaesars$33,433,001$1,998,9456.0%$574,067
Hollywood YorkFanatics$31,934,997$1,949,1606.1%$363,251
Rivers PittsburghBetRivers$30,114,208$2,143,5677.1%$540,941
Rivers PhiladelphiaPlaySugarHouse$19,501,294$859,7624.4%$212,031
ParxbetParx$16,666,192$985,0885.9%$302,098
Live PhiladelphiaBetway$8,199,239$706,2698.6%$254,257
Mohegan PennsylvaniaUnibet$5,376,276$296,6885.5%$103,316
Mohegan Lehigh Valley$1,359,066$165,93512.2%$59,737
Wind CreekWind Creek$1,348,188$127,8509.5%$46,026
South Philadelphia Race & Sportsbook$1,209,576$116,9909.7%$42,116
Live Pittsburgh$1,160,917$94,9498.2%$34,182
Presque Isle Downs$890,390$7950.1%$286
Mount AiryFox Bet$470,131$55,90211.9%$20,125
Parx Shippensburg$0$0$0
Total$800,718,332$63,715,60348.0%$16,409,365
Photo by Brynn Anderson / AP Photo
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Corey Sharp

Corey Sharp is the Lead Writer at PlayPennsylvania bringing you comprehensive coverage of sports betting and gambling in Pennsylvania. Corey is a 4-for-4 Philly sports fan and previously worked as a writer and editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer and NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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