The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has reported a marginal rise in market revenue for February, despite a 79.4% month-on-month decline in the sports betting vertical.
Overall gambling revenue in the state – comprising land-based table games and slots, online casino, sports betting, fantasy sports and video gaming terminals – amounted to $304.3m in February, up 0.5% from $304.2m in January and 13.8% from $267.6m in February 2019.
The small month-on-month increase was primarily down to growth within the state’s land-based market, with slot revenue rising 4.9% to $199.7m and table games revenue climbing 6.6%.
Focusing on sports wagering, revenue was down 79.4% on a month-on-month basis, with the $4.7m collected in February much lower than $22.8m in January, but 147.4% higher than February last year.
Handle amounted to $329.8m, down 5.3% sequentially but up up significantly from the $31.5m generated in February 2019. Of this sum, $294.1m was taken online, a 4.7% drop from January, with $35.6m wagered over-the-counter, down 10.4% month-over-month.
Online platforms were again the main source of income, generating $4.1m in revenue compared to just $628,524 from retail sportsbooks.
Meadows, partnered with DraftKings, overtook Valley Forge Casino to become the market leader in terms of sports betting revenue for the month. Revenue at Meadows reached $1.2m, just ahead of Valley Forge and partner FanDuel on $1.1m.
Parx Casino followed behind in third with $946,048 in revenue for the month, while Rivers Casino Pittsburgh saw revenue reach $809,858 and the Mount Airy Casino Resort $519,307.
However, it was not so good news for Harrah’s Philadelphia and the Hollywood Casino at Penn National, both of which posted a loss for the month.
In terms of online gaming revenue for the month, this amounted to $19.5m, up 35.3% on $14.0m in January. Internet slots were responsible for $9.6m of this total, followed by table games on $8.0m and poker with $1.8m in revenue.
Despite losing top spot in the sports betting market, Valley Forge Casino led the way in igaming with $6.1m in revenue, ahead of Rivers Casino Philadelphia on $4.8m and Mount Airy Casino Resort with $3.2m.
Fantasy sports revenue slipped 19.1% month-on-month to $1.7m in February, with DraftKings leading this area of the market on $835,461 in revenue, ahead of main rival $793,122.
Elsewhere and gross revenue from video gaming terminals totalled $1.3m in the month, representing an increase of 1.3% from $1.1m in January, with players wagering $14.2m in the process.