The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released revenue figures for November. It was a record-breaking revenue month for Pennsylvania sportsbooks as they won about $85 million.
Key November numbers for sports betting in PA
- Handle: $761.6 million
- Revenue: $85 million
- Hold: 11.2%
- Percent of bets placed online: 92%
- Month-over-month: Handle decreased 1.8%; revenue increased 100.8%
- Year-over-year: Handle jumped 1217%; revenue rose 1639%
- November sports betting taxes: $21.6 million to the state and another $1.2 million to local entities.
- Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook with $238.6 million
- Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook ($37.4 million)
PA sports betting handle & revenue by operator November 2021
| Licensee | Online Brand | Total Handle | Total Revenue | Online Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Handle | Retail Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | $241,980,326 | $37,464,655 | $238,636,631 | $37,055,811 | $3,343,695 | $408,843 |
| Meadows | DraftKings | $217,040,641 | $16,015,475 | $214,988,145 | $15,754,348 | $2,052,495 | $261,127 |
| Hollywood Penn National | Barstool | $75,978,949 | $8,301,357 | $74,347,264 | $7,992,760 | $1,631,686 | $308,598 |
| Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $75,219,179 | $5,727,580 | $75,219,179 | $5,727,580 | $0 | $0 |
| Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $37,475,776 | $4,141,874 | $27,908,967 | $3,010,881 | $9,566,809 | $1,130,993 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | SugarHouse | $26,290,367 | $2,599,880 | $17,112,224 | $1,295,063 | $9,178,143 | $1,304,817 |
| Parx | Parx | $26,085,647 | $3,731,640 | $18,499,067 | $2,430,866 | $7,586,580 | $1,300,774 |
| Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $17,509,802 | $1,785,827 | $16,676,790 | $1,643,531 | $833,012 | $142,296 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $11,012,285 | $989,375 | $9,207,541 | $718,057 | $1,804,744 | $271,319 |
| Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $8,585,032 | $1,214,212 | $4,326,420 | $353,845 | $4,258,612 | $860,367 |
| Live Philadelphia | Betway | $8,261,370 | $844,634 | $2,279,606 | $166,485 | $5,981,764 | $678,149 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $6,436,697 | $356,906 | $3,744,363 | $67,650 | $2,692,335 | $289,256 |
| South Philly OTB | $2,452,399 | $519,908 | $0 | $0 | $2,452,399 | $519,908 | |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $2,237,206 | $276,781 | $1,128,435 | $77,998 | $1,108,771 | $198,783 |
| Hollywood York | $2,087,428 | $444,388 | $0 | $0 | $2,087,428 | $444,388 | |
| Lehigh OTB | $1,639,988 | $186,118 | $0 | $0 | $1,639,988 | $186,118 | |
| Live Pittsburgh | $1,281,504 | $321,082 | $0 | $0 | $1,281,504 | $321,082 | |
| Total | $761,574,597 | $84,921,693 | $704,074,632 | $76,294,875 | $57,499,966 | $8,626,818 |
Three takeaways from PA sports betting
Rocketing revenue
Revenue rocketed into another stratosphere for PA sports betting. In November, sports betting operators collectively reported $85 million in revenue smashing previous revenue record of $48.1 million set in Sept. 2021. In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the total revenue for sportsbooks was $48.4 million.
FanDuel remains the leader of all sports betting operators in PA. Their previous high for monthly revenue was $21.2 million in Sept. 2021 but they obliterated that record in November with $37 million. FanDuel had the highest monthly hold of all sports betting apps in November with 16%.
DraftKings PA had its second-straight month with $200+ million handle and held the No.2 spot for revenue with $16 million.
Feast for betting
November had four weekends while October had five. Still, the month was stuffed with plenty of options for betting on the NFL, college football, college basketball, NBA and even NHL action.
Bad month for bettors
The betting public tends to side with the favorites. NFL underdogs covered the spread in about 60% of games making it one of the worst months ever for bettors.
Bounce back for Barstool
In October, Barstool online sportsbook‘s revenue ($118,849) was one of the lowest. Barstool bounced back big in November posting about $8 million in revenue. In terms of revenue, Barstool ranks third in PA behind FanDuel and DraftKings. They are ahead of BetMGM which had $5.7 million in revenue.
Where does Pennsylvania rank among other sports betting states
New Jersey surpassed $1 billion in handle for the second straight month, taking $1.3 billion in bets in November. NJ was also the first state where sportsbooks had $100 million in monthly revenue. In October, $1.1 billion was bet with Nevada sportsbooks (Nov. figures not released yet).
Pennsylvania hasn’t flirted with the $1 billion handle mark yet. Last month, handle in PA reached a high of $761.6 million.
PA does rank ahead of Michigan ($500.5 million) and Indiana ($463.7 million).
Analysis of November sports betting numbers
Unlike states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania doesn’t further break down revenue reports by sports or bet type. Online sports betting arrived in PA in the summer of 2019, so it’s still in its early stages and showing remarkable growth as shown in the YoY numbers.
At the SBC Summit North America in New Jersey in early December, American Gaming Association President Bill Miller said that the level of sports betting ads during the first few weeks of the NFL season was an “unsustainable arms race.” The books bet on the ads and months like November showed why.
December should be packed with a similar schedule for bettors….but…COVID is again threatening the sports schedule and the integrity of games. Will bettors feel they are not only betting against the spread but against whether or not their team will be missing key players by the start of the game?
Of course, there is always the thought that the leagues could shut down or go back to “bubble ball.”
Lead image Barstool Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino Morgantown by Katie Kohler
