Since the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) released record-breaking figures detailing FY 2022/2023, online casinos have gotten most of the headlines. However, the Pennsylvania sports betting market had the largest increase in revenue of any gaming vertical, growing 56% over the last year.
There’s one PA sportsbook dominating the market, and the rest are battling for share in the second tier.
With the fifth season of legal NFL betting approaching, it’ll be intriguing to see the direction of sports betting in the Keystone State.
PA sports betting revenue increases most in FY 2022/2023
Pennsylvania sports betting has had an interesting road since launching in May 2019. After revenue flattened in consecutive years, the market took a huge leap. Sports betting posted a record of $492 million in gross revenue (after promotional credits) during FY 2022/2023.
Here are the fiscal year gross revenue totals since sports betting entered Pennsylvania:
- 2018/2019: $21.7 million
- 2019/2020: $113.7 million
- 2020/2021: $308.8 million
- 2021/2022: $315.7 million
- 2022/2023: $492 million
The results show the curious jump in revenue, especially when considering overall handle only increased by about $137 million in FY 2022/2023. Here are handle totals from each fiscal year:
- 2018/2019: $244.7 million
- 2019/2020: $2.53 billion
- 2020/2021: $5.59 billion
- 2021/2022: $7.06 billion
- 2022/2023: $7.22 billion
With handle not drastically increasing, the state’s hold percentage did, which likely became the biggest factor in revenue jump. Pennsylvania’s hold rate in FY 2022/2023 increased to 9.5% from 7.2% in FY 2021/2022.
The first full fiscal year of sports betting in 2019/2020, operators reported a hold percentage of 6.5%. Throughout the history of Pennsylvania sports betting, hold rate has never eclipsed 8%. Perhaps PA sportsbooks are now finding the winning formula.
FanDuel remains dominant in Pennsylvania sports betting market
FanDuel Sportsbook PA owns the Pennsylvania market and it’s not close. The company reported $2.74 billion in handle (38% share) and $255.5 million in revenue for FY 2022/2023.
DraftKings Sportsbook PA is FanDuel’s biggest competition in the state, but still far away in both categories. DraftKings recorded $1.95 billion in total bets and $110 million in revenue.
FanDuel not only takes in more bets, its hold percentage is superior to anyone in the state. DraftKings’ hold rate is 7.3%, which falls below the Keystone State’s average of 9.5%. FanDuel blows away the competition with a hold rate of 12.4%, and is the only operator with a rate above double digits.
It doesn’t appear FanDuel will take its foot off the gas anytime soon. Expect the brand to continue to dominate in PA.
There’s FanDuel Sportsbook, then everyone else
Though FanDuel sits atop the state for handle and revenue, there are still quality sportsbooks battling for market share in Pennsylvania.
DraftKings is the only other sportsbook to generate handle north of $1 billion and revenue of more than $100 million. After DraftKings, there’s a logjam of operators vying for the third spot of market share.
As of now, BetMGM PA Sportsbook has secured the third spot by recording $575.1 million in handle and $21.1 million in revenue in FY 2022/2023.
Here are the remaining sportsbooks competing in the second tier by handle and revenue:
- Barstool Sportsbook: $411 million / $19.2 million
- BetRivers Sportsbook: $331 million / $8.1 million
- Caesars Sportsbook: $298 million / $7.9 million
- PlaySugarHouse Sportsbook: $230.5 million / $12.5 million
- betPARX Sportsbook: $199.8 million / $15.2 million
- PointsBet Sportsbook: $141 million / $4.1 million
Despite Barstool having the fourth-best handle in FY 2022/2023, the company’s market share has been trending downward. A new app migration is expected to enhance customer experience and help Barstool stay in the fourth spot.
Caesars Sportsbook PA surpassed Barstool in handle for the first time in March 2023 after making a series of changes to its platform.
BetRivers Sportsbook PA then passed Barstool in May 2023 for the first time, too.
Other sportsbooks such as Unibet, Betfred, Betway and FoxBet make minimal impact within the state.
What’s next for Pennsylvania online sportsbooks?
There hasn’t been a whole lot going on in terms of new sports betting launches in Pennsylvania. There are 14 online sportsbooks in the Keystone State, with PointsBet Sportsbook being the last to launch in February 2022. Before PointsBet, Betway PA Sportsbook was the latest in June 2021.
There will be some new faces entering the market soon. Fanatics Sportsbook is taking over PointsBet’s license and has some steps to complete before joining Pennsylvania.
Bet365 Sportsbook is on the way as the state’s 15th online option. The company applied for a sports betting and online casino license in February 2023. The PGCB told PlayPennsylvania it could be a number of months before bet365 launches, though.
Other than Fanatics and bet365, there isn’t much chatter of another operator entering the PA market. The state has three casinos with vacant sports betting licenses:
- Lady Luck Nemacolin
- Parx Shippensburg
- Live! Casino Pittsburgh
The pecking order of sportsbooks appears to be set in the Keystone State. With the fifth full season of NFL betting about to kick off, it’ll be interesting to monitor where Fanatics and others fall in the mix.
The NFL season will be the true test to really see where these sportsbooks stand within the PA market.
