Thanks to the first full month of NFL football action, PA sports betting handle jumped over 78%. August had some college football action that helped propel wagers to $109 million, but September blew that record number out of the water with almost $195 million in bets.
According to the latest report from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, a total of 81% of those wagers were placed online. Of that, more than half of the bets took place at FanDuel Sportsbook. The market leader generated $85 million in bets and led all sites in revenue with $4.7 million.
The five online sportsbooks generated over $9.2 million in betting revenue in September. Retail sportsbooks were responsible for another $5.6 million.
PA sports betting numbers for September 2019
Here is a look at how all the PA sports betting operators fared last month:
| Casino or Off-Track Betting Facility | Total Handle | Total Revenue | Online Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Handle | Retail Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge Casino | $88,546,350 | $5,113,222 | $85,128,312 | $4,736,979 | $3,418,038 | $376,243 |
| SugarHouse Casino | $37,718,490 | $2,900,092 | $31,189,213 | $1,842,228 | $6,529,276 | $1,057,865 |
| Rivers Casino | $30,807,702 | $2,093,319 | $23,487,556 | $1,935,509 | $7,320,146 | $957,791 |
| Parx Casino | $21,095,923 | $2,396,453 | $13,819,859 | $1,323,248 | $7,276,064 | $1,073,205 |
| Mount Airy | $4,901,840 | $277,194 | $4,529,421 | $231,536 | $372,418 | $45,658 |
| Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course | $3,286,460 | $590,006 | 0 | 0 | $3,286,460 | $590,006 |
| South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook | $2,316,720 | $490,153 | 0 | 0 | $2,316,720 | $490,153 |
| Harrah’s Philadelphia | $2,189,454 | $347,873 | 0 | 0 | $2,189,454 | $347,873 |
| Presque Isle Downs | $2,184,693 | $2,184,693 | 0 | 0 | $2,184,693 | $2,184,693 |
| Oaks Race and Sportsbook | $1,162,267 | $146,041 | 0 | 0 | $1,162,267 | $146,041 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $294,723 | $74,970 | $294,723 | $74,970 |
||
| Statewide Total | $194,504,622 | $14,924,872 | $158,154,361 | $9,269,519 | $36,350,260 | $5,655,352 |
FanDuel pulling away from the competition
As mentioned, FanDuel is running away with market share in Pennsylvania. In August, the site generated 42% of all online betting in Pennsylvania. Fast forward one month and FanDuel had more than half of the market, with 54% of online handle.
As Chris Krafcik of Eilers and Krejcik noted on Twitter, FanDuel is capturing this market share despite spending measurably less on promotions and bonuses in the summer months:
In August, FanDuel rocketed up the #PA online #sportsbetting standings despite bonusing at a far lower level than rivals. Suggests to us that FD–due in large part to its PA DFS locals d-base–is having to work less hard than rivals to acquire customers and generate revenue. pic.twitter.com/wE4XgGyyDB
— Chris Krafcik (@CKrafcik) October 8, 2019
That graph might look a little different after September though. Rivers and SugarHouse cut back on promotional dollars after months with seven figures of bonuses. Meanwhile, FanDuel expended $2.3 million in bonuses in September. Even with the uptick in bonus offers, FanDuel’s revenue was still miles ahead of the competition.
FOX Bet has lackluster debut
Despite a massive promotional push, the first month of FOX Bet operation in Pennsylvania did not impress. Mount Airy’s online sportsbook took just $4.5 million in bets in September, putting it dead last in the category. Revenue was a paltry $231,000, with just $37,000 in promotional credit doled out.
The site went live on Sept. 4, so it did not have a full month of operation like the competition. Nonetheless, the quick rise of FanDuel showed that a brand can come into PA and easily grab market share.
By comparison, in New Jersey, there are no exact numbers on FOX Bet, but Resorts, which holds FOX Bet’s license, experienced a huge uptick in sports betting revenue from roughly $6 million to around $10 million.
Local PA brands holding steady
Rivers, SugarHouse, and Parx are all up in both handle and revenue from August. Parx had the biggest jump of all, more than doubling handle from $6 million to almost $14 million.
Even with the growth, Parx is still in fourth place on the handle front. SugarHouse, with $41 million in bets, and Rivers, with $23.5 million in bets, round out the top three.
However, when it comes to the top retail sportsbook in the state, Parx is neck and neck with Rivers for that honor. Both accepted roughly $7.3 million in bets last month. Rivers did that with a virtual monopoly on the Pittsburgh market, while Parx did that in the competitive Philadelphia area.
With the growth in the industry comes more tax revenue for the state. Pennsylvania netted more than $5.3 million in taxes from online and retail sportsbooks in September.
