Sportsbooks in Pennsylvania had their worst month ever for net revenue. After paying out bettors and giving out a record $22.6 million in promos, sports betting operators combined for a loss of $442,847. PA sports betting apps and retail sportsbooks combined to take $597 million in bets in February, a 24% month-over-month decrease.
Revenue at PA online casinos and poker sites remained strong. Gross gaming revenue reached $123.7 million, a 4.8% drop from last month, and a increase 36.6% from last year. The shorter month of February resulted in a record $4.4 million in gross gaming revenue per day for online casinos and poker.
February 2022 numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting
Figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
- Handle: $597 million
- Revenue: $22.1 million/Gross revenue taxable negative $442,847
- Hold: 3.7% (down from 6.7% last month)
- Percent of bets placed online: 93%
- Promotional credits: $22.6 million
- Month-over-month: Handle decreased 24.7%; revenue decreased 58.5%
- Year-over-year: Handle jumped 17%; revenue decreased 33%
- January sports betting taxes: negative (-$150,568.03) to the state and an additional (-$8,856.95) to local entities
- Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook with $213.3 million
- Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook ($5.9 million)
*Full revenue breakdown below.
February 2022 numbers for online casinos and poker in PA
- Online slots gross revenue: $68.1 million
- Online table games gross revenue: $31.4 million
- Poker revenue: $2.8 million
- $102.4 million in taxable revenue yielded $42.3 million in state taxes and local assessments
*Full revenue breakdown below.
Four takeaways from PA gaming revenue in February 2022
Super Bowl can’t carry the month
January had five weekends of NFL football which resulted in a Pennsylvania state record for handle. There was only one football game in February – albeit the biggest one. A state-record $68 million was bet on Super Bowl 56. At the time, sportsbooks expected revenue to be about $4.5 million, a significant decrease from $9.4 million won from last year’s big game.
Sportbooks gave out lots of promos during NFL season
In February in PA, sportsbooks doled out $22.6 million in promo credits (a state record) in an effort to acquire and retain customers. Of the 14 sports betting apps in the state, three gave away the majority of the freebies to customers in February – DraftKings ($8.3 million), FanDuel ($6 million) and BetMGM ($5.6 million).
Here’s a look at how much sportsbooks have given out in promo credits since the NFL season started.
- Sept. 2021: $19.8 million
- Oct. 2021: $18.7 million
- Nov. 2021: $21.2 million
- Dec. 2022: $19.1 million
- Jan. 2022: $21.2 million
Total gaming revenue slides for third straight month
Gross gaming revenue continued a three-month slide. Gross gaming revenue includes all forms of gaming in the state including land-based casinos, iGaming, sports betting, VGTs and DFS.
- Feb. 2022.: $375.6 million
- January 2022: $393.1 million
- Dec. 2022: $406.3 million
- October 2021: $425.9 million
So, what happened? Less busy winter months combined with the omicron surge.
Barstool Sportsbook check-in
Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden made it clear that Barstool is going to rely on organic marketing and wants to be judged on net gross revenue (revenue minus promo credits).
Barstool in January 2022:
- Revenue: $3.3 million
- Promo credits: $1.7 million
- NGR: $1.5 million
Barstool in February 2022:
- Revenue: $1.9 million
- Promo credits: $859,553
- NGR: $1.1 million
PA sports betting handle & revenue by operator February 2022
| Licensee | Online Brand | Total Handle | Total Revenue | Online Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Handle | Retail Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | $215,047,108 | $5,978,636 | $213,152,290 | $5,969,187 | $1,894,818 | $9,448 |
| Meadows | DraftKings | $141,468,879 | $4,891,694 | $140,065,075 | $4,860,626 | $1,403,804 | $31,068 |
| Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $72,901,730 | $4,319,501 | $72,320,602 | $4,268,610 | $581,128 | $50,891 |
| Hollywood Penn National | Barstool | $48,075,172 | $1,979,664 | $46,772,593 | $1,986,789 | $1,302,579 | -$7,124 |
| Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $29,087,513 | $1,349,434 | $23,969,096 | $1,170,536 | $5,118,416 | $178,898 |
| Parx | Parx | $20,631,548 | $1,250,365 | $14,196,354 | $915,911 | $6,435,194 | $334,454 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | SugarHouse | $18,866,338 | $628,438 | $14,598,213 | $258,269 | $4,268,125 | $370,169 |
| Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $9,595,656 | $554,038 | $9,124,518 | $551,961 | $471,137 | $2,077 |
| Hollywood York | PointsBet | $9,587,010 | $945,733 | $7,915,820 | $855,495 | $1,671,190 | $90,239 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $7,620,222 | $526,968 | $6,618,459 | $484,594 | $1,001,763 | $42,374 |
| Live Philadelphia | Betway | $6,194,220 | -$417,139 | $2,213,325 | -$122,637 | $3,980,895 | -$294,501 |
| Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $6,133,574 | $312,527 | $2,893,234 | $155,063 | $3,240,340 | $157,464 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $5,712,260 | -$297,993 | $3,250,975 | -$173,263 | $2,461,284 | -$124,730 |
| South Philly OTB | $2,250,137 | $73,143 | $0 | $0 | $2,250,137 | $73,143 | |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $2,146,784 | -$43,744 | $1,018,495 | -$48,426 | $1,128,288 | $4,682 |
| Lehigh OTB | $922,294 | $42,900 | $0 | $0 | $922,294 | $42,900 | |
| Live Pittsburgh | $644,514 | $7,883 | $0 | $0 | $644,514 | $7,883 | |
| Parx Malvern | $179,091 | $58,503 | $0 | $0 | $179,091 | $58,503 | |
| Total | $597,064,049 | $22,160,553 | $558,109,050 | $21,132,714 | $38,954,999 | $1,027,839 |
PA iGaming revenue by operator in February 2022
| Licensee | Total Revenue | Slots | Tables | Poker | Promos | State/Local Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Penn National | $51,639,484 | $36,114,105 | $15,241,712 | $283,667 | $8,977,896 | $17,132,024 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | $30,816,996 | $27,638,626 | $3,099,036 | $79,334 | $6,299,528 | $12,029,689 |
| Valley Forge | $19,600,645 | $9,848,808 | $9,751,836 | $0 | $1,102,619 | $6,283,236 |
| Mount Airy | $6,950,248 | $4,265,976 | $1,044,401 | $1,639,871 | $2,686,948 | $1,278,600 |
| Parx | $3,538,516 | $3,086,422 | $452,094 | $0 | $553,407 | $1,440,163 |
| Live Philadelphia | $3,267,911 | $2,564,213 | $703,698 | $0 | $541,429 | $1,204,895 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | $3,180,107 | $1,897,064 | $404,792 | $878,251 | $362,177 | $1,027,329 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $2,075,025 | $1,803,401 | $271,624 | $0 | $456,664 | $770,698 |
| Wind Creek | $1,458,669 | $1,367,897 | $90,772 | $0 | $292,607 | $595,180 |
| Presque Isle | $1,220,440 | $863,019 | $357,421 | $0 | $55,471 | $493,263 |
| Total | $123,748,040 | $89,449,530 | $31,417,388 | $2,881,123 | $21,328,747 | $42,255,078 |
Press release: Pennsylvania Sportsbooks Slip in Post-Super Bowl Slowdown
Contact: Zack Hall, Catena Media, [email protected]
Lead image by Katie Kohler
