December’s handle marked an increase of 60% year-on-year, while sports betting revenue last month amounted to $34.1m, up 199% y-o-y.
Pennsylvania’s online sportsbook handle grew by 140% last year, compared to $1.5bn in wagers in 2019. The dramatic increase in handle comes despite nearly four months without retail sports betting due to Covid-19 pandemic-related casino shutdowns.
“Online betting, both on sports and online casino games, have been a crucial silver lining to what was overall a rough year for Pennsylvania’s gaming industry,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayPennsylvania. “Obviously, the growth online has come unfortunately as the retail market has faced pandemic-related shutdowns. But without the increase in online revenue, there is no telling how much weaker a position the entire industry would be in right now.”
Online wagers accounted for $3.3bn of sports betting handle for 2020, which is a 208% increase y-o-y.
December produced $549m in online sports wagers, or 97.6% of all handle. FanDuel Sportsbook at Valley Forge led the way with a handle of $208m, followed by DraftKings Sportsbook at The Meadows with $131m in bets. FanDuel earned $7.1m in taxable revenue, while DraftKings generated $5.4m.
Pennsylvania is in a fight with Illinois for third place in annual sports betting wagers. Illinois should release its December figures in the next week.