Pennsylvania broke its sports betting and online gambling revenue records in November, though declining land-based revenue led to a year-on-year drop in the state’s monthly total.
Total gambling revenue in November amounted to $283.3m, down 2.7% from $292.1m in November 2019 and also 11.5% lower than the $320.2m posted in October this year, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) figures.
The decline came despite another strong performance from the sports betting vertical, with revenue after promotional credits reaching a record $37.4m, up 153.7% and surpassing the previous record of $36.8m set in October this year.
Online sports betting accounted for $31.2m of this total, compared to $6.2m from retail wagering.
Players spent a total of $491.9m on sports betting in November, an increase of 55.4% on last year, but short of the record ($525.8m) set in October 2020.
Looking at the performances of individual operators, the Valley Forge Casino Resort and FanDuel remained by far the market leaders after posting $15.4m in revenue, up 164.6% on last year.
Meadows Casino ranked second with $7.2m in revenue, an increase of 411.9% on November 2019, while the Hollywood Casino and Penn National saw revenue reach $3.8m.
Parx Casino’s South Philly Race and Sportsbook was the only operator to report a year-on-year decline in revenue, with this slipping 73.2% to $90,795.
For fantasy sports, revenue remained flat year-on-year at $3.0m. DraftKings continued to lead the market with $1.9m in revenue, ahead of FanDuel on $1.1m.
The PGCB also announced a new monthly revenue record for the state’s igaming market, which amounted to $59.8m, representing an increase of 516.5% on last year. This was also marginally higher than the previous record set in October this year.
Online slots revenue came to $39.4m, while online table games revenue reached $18.0m and revenue from online poker – currently only offered by PokerStars, via Mount Airy Casino Resort – reached $2.4m.
Rivers Casino Philadelphia again ranked first in Pennsylvania’s igaming market, posting $16.6m in revenue, up 374.3% on last year. Hollywood Casino at Penn National followed close behind with $15.7m in revenue, then Valley Forge Casino Report on $10.4m.
Mount Airy Casino Resort saw its igaming revenue more than double year-on-year to $6.3m, while revenue at Parx Casino climbed 293.3% to $5.9m.
However, despite growth across these markets, the PGCB reported significant declines in land-based casino revenue, with properties currently subject to social distancing measures and capacity limits. Slot revenue fell 31.6% year-on-year to $129.5m, while table games revenue was also down 30.0% to $52.3m.
Pennsylvania’s land-based casino sector is set for further declines this month after state Governor Tom Wolf last week ordered all casinos in the state to close until at least January 4 as part of new novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.
Casinos closed and halted all gaming activities on December 12, and will not be able to reopen until 8am on January 4.
The state’s video gaming terminals saw revenue grow 242.7% year-on-year to $2.3m, as players spent a total of $25.5m at locations across the state.
Looking at Pennsylvania’s year-to-date performance, total gambling revenue for the 11 months to the end of November stood at $4.18bn.
Sports betting revenue for the 11-month period amounted to $220.6m; igaming revenue reached $526.7m; land-based slots revenue $2.48bn and table games revenue $936.9m.