The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has reported a 16.9% year-on-year rise in gambling revenue for January, aided by growing contributions from igaming and sports betting.
Total revenue across all regulated verticals, comprising land-based table games and slots, online casino, sports betting, fantasy sports and video gaming terminals, rose to $302.8m. This came predominantly from the state’s land-based market, with slots accounting for $190.3m of the total, up 5.8%, and table games $72.6m, down 2.5%.
Sports betting, in a month in which the National Football League playoffs took place, saw total handle rise 1.7% month-over-month to $348.4m. This was largely wagered online, which accounted for $308.6m of total handle, a 3.8% advance on December 2019. Land-based stakes, meanwhile, fell 11.8% to $39.8m.
January’s sports betting revenue, after promotional credits, amounted to $22.8m, double December’s $11.4m take.
Valley Forge Casino, which has partnered Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, is now firmly established as the leading operator in the vertical. While the venue’s January handle of $156.1m was down marginally month-on-month, revenue jumped 96.7% to $8.1m.
Meadows, partnered with DraftKings, has quickly emerged as the closest challenger in terms of player activity, with total stakes coming in at $60.2m, a 60.0% advance from December.
However, Meadows’ revenue of $3.0m meant that Rush Street’s Rivers Casino Philadelphia, which held $3.3m from stakes of $35.8m, was the second-largest venue in terms of revenue. Another Rush Street property, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, followed in fourth with handle of $32.5m and revenue of $2.5m.
Turning to Pennslyvania’s igaming market, total revenue grew to $14.0m in January, a 31.4% rise, of which $7.2m came from online slots, up 29.1%. Online table games enjoyed the biggest rise over the month, with revenue up 78.5% to $4.6m, while online poker contributed a further $2.2m.
In this vertical, Rivers Casino Philadelphia led the way, with revenue of $3.6m, followed by the Mount Airy Casino Resort, partnered with The Stars Group, on $3.5m.
The Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racetrack, allied with William Hill, followed in third with $2.4m.
The state’s regulated fantasy sports market saw revenue fall 2.4% year-on-year to $2.1m, of which the vast majority was generated by DraftKings and FanDuel. DraftKings led the market in January, accounting for $1.0m of the total – up 1.9% – while FanDuel reported a 3.8% decline in revenue to $960,471.
Yahoo Fantasy Sports saw its revenue jump 26.1%, to $52,801, while SportsHub Technologies’ monthly total was down 26.8% at $6,438.
Finally, video gaming terminals – gaming machines hosted at truck stops – saw revenue grow 26.9% from December 2019, to $1.1m. Players wagered $11.2m across 21 establishments, winning $10.0m.