Figures released on Monday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board were just a small appetizer ahead of the main course which for sportsbooks is the NFL. Pennsylvania sportsbooks handled $363 million in bets in August, a $30 million increase from July. Revenue in August was $42.1 million (a 27% MoM jump). PA sportsbooks’ hold for August was 11.6%. That also meant another good month for sportsbooks since July’s hold was 9.9%.
It was another huge month for Pennsylvania online casinos as they reached $131.7 million in gross revenue.
PA gambling regulators reported that revenue for all forms of gambling in the state hit $425.4 million in August, a 4.24% increase from last year.
August 2022 numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting
Figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board:
- Handle: $363 million (7.8% MoM increase)
- Revenue: $42.1 million/adjusted gross revenue (taxable): $8.2 million
- Hold: 11.6% (up from 9.9%)
- Percent of bets placed online: 91.7%
- Promotional credits: $8.2 million
- August sports betting taxes: $11.5 million to the state and $679,066 to local entities.
- Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook with $130.8 million
- Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook ($16.9 million)
Full August revenue breakdown below.
August 2022 numbers for online casinos and poker in PA
- Online slots revenue: $100.2 million
- Online table games revenue: $28.7 million
- Poker revenue: $2.3 million
Full August revenue breakdown by PA casino licensee below.
Quick analysis from August PA sports betting and casino figures
PA sports betting August takeaways
- New Jersey released its figures on Friday and the state’s sportsbooks handled $546.8 million (a 2.8% increase from July). PA’s MoM handle increase was 7.8%. Revenue for NJ sportsbooks hit $65.3 million, a 45% leap from last month and beating PA’s MoM for revenue. New Jersey and Pennsylvania sportsbooks were very similar in terms of hold. New Jersey sportsbooks’ win (hold) was 11.9% and PA sportsbooks was 11.6%.
- FanDuel continues to maintain about 40% of the online sports betting market share in Pennsylvania. The sportsbook consistently takes about 38-42% of all bets placed online in PA despite increased competition.
- September and the NFL season already shaping up to be big. It’s no surprise or a hot take that the NFL is main course for sportsbooks. After Week 1, GeoComply which sportsbooks use to verify where bets are placed, released data that showed it was an “unbelievable start.” Pennsylvania’s total number of geolocation checks leapt 29.7% to 15.3 million YoY. According to the data from GeoComply, Pennsylvania was second in legal US sport betting markets to only New York for geolocation checks.
PA casinos August takeaways
- In an interview earlier last month with Casino Update, Parx Chief marketing officer Marc Oppenheimer said visitation rates are good, but business is down for slots. The August numbers showed a 10.7% YoY decrease in slot revenue for Parx. But Parx still remained the top PA casino for slot revenue in August.
- Online casinos started arriving in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2019. There are now 18 online casinos in PA and many of them have a deep library of slots, table games, video poker and the popular live dealer. In August, PA online casinos had their fourth-best month ever, reaching $131.7 million in gross revenue. It was about a 6.6% MoM increase which shows that iGaming in PA still has room to grow.
- Last month, Wind Creek Casino broke a Pennsylvania record for table games revenue with $23.6 million (42% YoY increase). What would it do for an encore? In August, Wind Creek eked out Parx and led the state for table games revenue with $17.7 million. However, it was a 6.2 YoY decrease.
PA sports betting handle & revenue by operator August 2022
| Licensee | Online Brand | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | $132,134,266 | $17,201,569 | 13.0% | $4,903,233 |
| Hollywood Meadows | DraftKings | $91,717,403 | $10,599,382 | 11.6% | $3,291,617 |
| Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $39,294,581 | $3,887,315 | 9.9% | $930,650 |
| Hollywood Penn National | Barstool | $24,002,897 | $2,345,939 | 9.8% | $633,199 |
| Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $20,019,999 | $1,806,615 | 9.0% | $529,455 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | PlaySugarHouse | $12,943,334 | $879,937 | 6.8% | $280,668 |
| Parx | betParx | $10,730,014 | $1,296,634 | 12.1% | $392,175 |
| Hollywood York | PointsBet | $7,104,420 | $933,080 | 13.1% | $178,024 |
| Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $5,797,774 | $805,390 | 13.9% | $262,098 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $4,964,805 | $422,200 | 8.5% | $100,858 |
| Live Philadelphia | Betway | $4,827,702 | $778,291 | 16.1% | $280,185 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $2,886,886 | $308,382 | 10.7% | $110,544 |
| Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $2,068,079 | $229,137 | 11.1% | $82,012 |
| South Philadelphia Race & Sportsbook | $1,366,222 | $198,024 | 14.5% | $71,289 | |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $1,121,940 | $210,167 | 18.7% | $75,271 |
| Downs at Lehigh Valley | $1,025,309 | $89,967 | 8.8% | $32,388 | |
| Live Pittsburgh | $780,693 | $159,454 | 20.4% | $57,403 | |
| Parx Malvern | $260,650 | $33,661 | 12.9% | $12,118 | |
| Total | $363,046,972 | $42,185,145 | 11.6% | $12,223,188 |
PA online casino revenue by operator August 2022
| Licensee | Total Revenue | Slots | Tables | Poker | Promos | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Penn National | $55,382,429 | $40,861,444 | $14,217,714 | $303,270 | $11,460,252 | $16,139,366 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | $33,525,757 | $30,017,122 | $3,398,256 | $110,379 | $6,723,837 | $11,508,256 |
| Valley Forge | $19,034,055 | $11,262,559 | $7,771,496 | $0 | $1,294,685 | $5,928,340 |
| Mount Airy | $6,278,050 | $3,510,367 | $1,077,333 | $1,690,350 | $1,439,136 | $1,413,756 |
| Parx | $6,222,080 | $5,373,804 | $848,276 | $0 | $1,461,578 | $1,974,470 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | $3,470,639 | $2,456,763 | $377,912 | $635,964 | $260,183 | $1,187,147 |
| Live Philadelphia | $3,040,702 | $2,676,291 | $364,411 | $0 | $534,348 | $1,065,019 |
| Wind Creek | $2,417,716 | $2,232,714 | $185,002 | $0 | $831,391 | $688,222 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $1,910,653 | $1,546,897 | $363,757 | $0 | $514,300 | $543,522 |
| Presque Isle Downs | $420,359 | $302,621 | $117,737 | $0 | $2,389 | $159,947 |
| Total | $131,702,440 | $100,240,582 | $28,721,895 | $2,739,963 | $24,522,098 | $40,608,044 |
Lead image by Katie Kohler
