The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has published its latest assessment of the gambling industry in the Keystone State this Thursday, reporting revenues of $375.7 million across gaming verticals. This amount is an increase of 24.1% percent on a year-over-year basis. However, the amount is a third consecutive month in which the state’s gambling revenue dropped.
Losses in Casino Sector Last Month
Results in January posted the total revenue at $393.1 million with the latest trends solidifying this downward trend. As overall results were still subdued, individual casinos managed to pull a respectable total revenue from their gaming operations after paying out winners.
Parx Casino led the way in terms of slot revenue – the property added $33.9 million in February. Wind Creek Bethlehem ended up with $22.3 million, followed by Rivers Casino Pittsburgh with $21.5 million.
Online gambling was still one of the main drivers of gambling revenue in the state, with Hollywood Casino pulling in $42.7 million followed by Rivers Casino Philadelphia with $24.5 million. Valley Forge Casino Resort secured another $18.5 million with mobile clearly one of the preferred options.
Slowdown in Sports Gambling in February
Meanwhile, sports betting handle in the state in February reached $597.1 million. The total handle was divvied between Valley Forge Casino Resorts with $215 million and Hollywood Casino with $141.5 million. Hollywood Casino Morgantown claimed another $72.9 million.
Taking a look at the actual revenue after payouts to winners, Valley Forge held $1.6 million last month with Hollywood Casino at Penn National retaining $1.1 million and Parx Casino bringing in $819,918 in total betting revenue.
The total sports betting handle was clearly down from the $793.7 million posted in February, which was a record-setting month for the Keystone State.
Despite the reported revenue, the adjusted results indicated that the majority of online sportsbooks scored big losses across the board in February, citing the need to constantly offer betting incentives to bettors in an attempt to secure a bigger market share.
Adjusting the numbers for the promotions, a number of sportsbooks posted actual losses instead of winnings.
Betway posted -$122,637 in losses with Betfred generating -$123,831. The biggest losers here were DraftKings which expended -$3.3 million and BetMGM which was followed by -$1.6 million, PointsBet in -$219,709. Some though have been able to report some net gains as well, including Barstool at $1.1 million, BetRivers at $407,738, PlaySugarHouse at $123,345, and others.
Promotional offers are used in an attempt to ensure that the competition has smaller clout on the market, but it’s also a double-edged sword that leads to companies reporting bigger losses as well. The state has 14 retail and 18 online sportsbooks.