Handle continued its expected summer slide at Pennsylvania sportsbooks but revenue remained strong. In June, Pennsylvania sports bettors wagered $420.2 million and sportsbooks reported $42.5 million in revenue according to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Handle decreased 6% from May and revenue increased 13.6%.
It’s been two years since sports betting apps launched in PA and has been the trend, the majority of the wagers were placed online (90.2%) in June. Sportsbooks’ win percentage/hold was 10.1%, a jump from 8.4% from May.
Pennsylvania sportsbooks gave away $8.3 million in promotional credits, the lowest amount of freebies since July 2020. Promos reduced sportsbooks’ taxable revenue to $34.2 million. The state collected $11.6 million in taxes from sports betting in May with an additional $684K headed to local entities.
FanDuel Sportsbook remains the top operator in the PA sports betting industry. It took 57% more bets than its next closest competitor ($162.5 million handle) and posted $19.7 million in revenue. Through its partnership with Valley Forge Casino, FanDuel, took nearly 40% of all bets placed in PA in June. It represented FanDuel’s biggest slice of the market share since August 2020.
Record year for Pennsylvania sportsbooks
It was a record fiscal year for Pennsylvania sportsbooks. In FY 2020/2021, PA sportsbooks had a record $5.6 billion in handle and $440.6 million in revenue.
Here is a look at a fiscal year breakdown of the handle, revenue and taxes for sports betting in Pennsylvania.
Fiscal year 2018/2019
- Handle: $244.6 million
- Taxable revenue: $21.7 million
- State tax (34%): $699,319
- Local share (2%): $41,136
Fiscal year 2019/2020
- Handle: $2.5 billion
- Revenue: $163.3 million
- Taxable Revenue: $135.5 million
- State tax: $38.6 million
- Local share: $2.3 million
Fiscal year 2020/2021
- Handle: $5.6 billion
- Revenue: $440.6 million
- Taxable Revenue: $308.8 million
- State tax: $105 million
- Local share: $6.2 million
Pennsylvania levies the highest tax on sports betting revenue at 36%. The money collected from taxes from sports betting goes into the general fund; 34% is a state tax and 2% is a local share assessment.
A much different June for PA sportsbooks
From June 2020 to June 2021 handle increased 372% at PA sportsbooks. However, last June the sports calendar was still pretty bare due to COVID cancellations. In June, bettors had a much more to choose from with NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, EURO 2020 soccer, and MLB action. In terms of the local teams, the Philadelphia 76ers failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs, the Flyers didn’t qualify for the playoffs, the Penguins had a quick exit, the Phillies have been treading water at .500 and the Pirates are in last place.
How did other states fare in June? New Jersey sports betting handle reached $766.9 million and $71.3 million in revenue.
Illinois recently released May sports betting numbers and reported a handle of $507.3 million. Handle hit $477.2 million in Nevada in May.
FanDuel continues to dominate in PA and DraftKings maintains a strong grip on No. 2. DraftKings’ June handle of $87.4 million was its lowest since Aug. 2020 but they did see revenue increase from last month ($6.5 million). BetMGM holds the No. 3 spot. Barstool’s June handle ($31.8 million) was the lowest since it launched in Sept. 2020. Revenue for Barstool PA sportsbook in June was $3.2 million, an increase from May’s $2.8 million
PA sports betting handle & revenue by operator in June 2021
Licensee | Online Brand | Total Handle | Total Revenue | Online Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Handle | Retail Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valley Forge | FanDuel | $164,832,204 | $20,088,342 | $162,520,699 | $19,673,603 | $2,311,506 | $414,738 |
Meadows | DraftKings | $87,456,003 | $6,533,876 | $86,028,646 | $6,432,885 | $1,427,357 | $100,991 |
Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $37,404,303 | $3,203,820 | $37,404,303 | $3,203,820 | $0 | $0 |
Hollywood Penn National | Barstool | $33,506,874 | $3,475,875 | $31,871,214 | $3,229,292 | $1,635,660 | $246,582 |
Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $23,173,942 | $1,821,944 | $18,477,549 | $1,400,330 | $4,696,392 | $421,614 |
Rivers Philadelphia | SugarHouse | $19,320,093 | $1,972,943 | $11,345,718 | $918,173 | $7,974,375 | $1,054,771 |
Parx | Parx | $16,128,951 | $1,872,095 | $9,768,791 | $1,100,295 | $6,360,160 | $771,800 |
Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $13,224,189 | $952,435 | $12,591,809 | $934,728 | $632,380 | $17,707 |
Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $5,711,022 | $521,684 | $4,744,020 | $376,848 | $967,002 | $144,836 |
Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $4,778,127 | $114,375 | $1,500,084 | $56,986 | $3,278,043 | $57,389 |
Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $4,661,513 | $584,290 | $2,228,398 | $194,104 | $2,433,115 | $390,186 |
Live Philadelphia | Betway | $4,522,938 | $643,652 | $14,883 | $3,655 | $4,508,055 | $639,997 |
South Philly OTB | N/A | $1,953,906 | $342,472 | $0 | $0 | $1,953,906 | $342,472 |
Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $1,550,093 | $84,004 | $771,648 | $33,801 | $778,445 | $50,202 |
Lehigh OTB | N/A | $1,086,821 | $145,945 | $0 | $0 | $1,086,821 | $145,945 |
Live Pittsburgh | N/A | $882,400 | $137,580 | $0 | $0 | $882,400 | $137,580 |
Total | $420,193,377 | $42,495,332 | $379,267,760 | $37,558,522 | $40,925,617 | $4,936,810 |
June fantasy sports figures
It’s no surprise DFS operators benefitted from the return of a normal sports schedule in June. Fantasy operators reported $1.9 million in revenue in June. DraftKings ($994,389) and FanDuel ($884,656) claim nearly all of the DFS revenue in PA
Lead Image: FanDuel Sporstbook at Valley Forge Casino.by Katie Kohler.