Pennsylvania reported year-on-year declines in slots, table games, sports betting, VGTs and fantasy sports in its fiscal year ended 30 June, yet a strong performance from online gaming was enough to push the state to record revenue and taxes.
Total gambling revenue for the 12 months to 30 June came to $5.89bn (£4.55bn/€5.41bn), 6.9% ahead of last year’s $5.51bn according to full-year figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
This generated $2.36bn in tax revenue for the Keystone state, a record breaking total. Of this total, $1.34bn came from casino slots and $157.6m table games. Sports betting generated $175.2m, video gaming terminals $21.4m and fantasy sports $2.9m.
However, it followed a year in which all verticals – bar one – declined year-over-year. The land-based casino market made the biggest contribution, with slots making up $2.44bn of FY23-24 revenue, down 0.6% from the prior year. A further $958m came from table games, with video gaming terminals (VGT) revenue down 2.4% to $41.1m.
For Pennsylvania’s online market, sports betting contributed $486.6m to the total, down 1.1% and fantasy sports added a further $19.3m, down 6.8%.
No stopping igaming growth in Pennsylvania
Amid all this decline, online casino was the sole vertical to report year-on-year growth. Revenue jumped 27.2% from FY22-23 to $1.95bn, meaning it is closing in on casino slots as the biggest source of gaming revenue in the state.
As with land-based gaming, slots make up the vast majority of icasino revenue. Online slots contributed $1.39bn, followed by $525.4m from table games and $28.9m from poker rake and fees. This generated $841.7m in tax revenue for the state.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National, which sublicenses DraftKings and BetMGM, made up $751.2m of FY23-24 revenue, followed by FanDuel (Valley Forge Resort) on $482.5m, a major year-on-year increase of 56%.
Rush Street Interactive reported more modest growth of 7.8% to take third place with $356.6m in revenue. It was followed by Caesars which saw icasino revenue more than double to $102m.
Sports betting revenue dips due to promos
While igaming growth helped drive revenue up in Pennsylvania, the same could not be said for sports betting. Handle was up 13% to $8.17bn, but a 9% hold meant revenue after promotional credits was down 1.1% year-on-year to $486.6m.
Breaking this down by channel, $694.5m of all revenue came from online and $38.0m retail. As for handle, $7.67bn was bet over the internet and $495.5m with retail sportsbooks.
FanDuel led the market with players wagering $3.31bn and from a 7.5% hold generated $249.4m in revenue, down 2.4%. DraftKings’ hold of 6.1% – GGR of $137.1m from $2.24bn in handle – was also particularly low, although that revenue total represented a 24.7% rise from the prior year.
BetMGM followed in third, with customers staking $516.7m and revenue after promo spend up 0.4% to $21.2m.
