Pennsylvania Gambling Revenue Up 162.7% In March
Published April 28, 2021 by Sol FH
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has reported a 162.7% year-on-year increase in gambling revenue.
Land-based and online gambling soared in the state of Pennsylvania in March as land-based slots, casino games, online casinos, sports betting, fantasy sports, and video terminals comprised a huge increase to $403.2m.
In March 2020, the industry took in $153.5m, as the COVID-19 Pandemic closed the state's casinos. The March 2021 totals were also an improvement on Februarys' ($302.0m), across all products.
Led by Sports Gambling
The biggest rise was recorded for sports betting, with revenue up 326.1% to $26m, with online bookmakers accounting for $22.6m and retail sportsbooks accounting for $3.4m. The NCAA basketball tournament - March Madness was a major reason for this increase, with punters wagering a total of $560.3m. Again, retail sports betting was in the shadow of online sports betting to the tune of $45.9m for land-based facilities and $514.3m, online.
Casino games were also dominated by the online offerings with online table games accounting for $28.9m in revenue from $1.51bn in wagers.
With online gambling on the rise in all of the legal US states, it is easy to see how the numbers have soared in Pennsylvania. We've tracked record revenue in multiple states across the country, which means new tax revenue to be used for social and community programs.
The industry expects to gain even more traction as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease. This doesn't necessarily mean that online will lose any of its hold on the industry, rather, land-based facilities will gain back some of their losses from the last couple of years.
