Fueled by five full weeks of football, October has seen records shattered throughout Pennsylvania’s gaming market as both sports betting and online casino handle reached new heights.
The state saw $776m, a 34.1% month-on-month increase, in sports betting handle, pushing the state beyond $10bn in lifetime bets as well as joining a New Jersey in producing over $1bn in revenue over a calendar year.
Katie Kohler, Analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. struck a positive tone: "The convergence of all that betting inventory, particularly with five weekends of football, made a record in October all but assured.
"Such a big leap in October shows that Pennsylvania still has an increasing base of bettors, and those bettors are placing more in wagers as they become increasingly comfortable with in-game and proposition betting."
In total, sportsbooks generated $42.3m in revenue during October, an 11% year-on-year decrease. This raised $8.4m in state taxes.
Of the $741m worth of wagers in October, FanDuel generated $270.8m. DraftKings followed with $201.7m, while Penn National’s Barstool Sports saw $71.5m in wagers.
Offline wagers accounted for far less than online, with retail sportsbooks reaching $62.2m in October. This led to $5.05m in gross revenue.
"Online sportsbooks in particular benefit from NFL regular season games, which offer hundreds of options for in-game betting in addition to more conventional bets," Kohler went on to add. "Props and in-game betting are now a cornerstone for growth."
In regard to online casino, state records were broken as Pennsylvania recorded $117.04m in gross gaming revenue. This marks a 58.8% year-on-year increase and pushes annual revenue to $1.05bn.
"Online gambling continues to thrive, while the state has a consistent and significant revenue generator," Gouker, an Analyst at PlayPennsylvania said. "Pennsylvania taxes its online gambling industry at a higher rate than any other open market in the US, and that decision made years ago by regulators has proven to be a valuable one for the state."
