Pennsylvania’s gaming industry achieved healthy revenue increases from a year ago in June, even if coming up short across the board compared to May numbers.
The monthly revenue report released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board showed a total of $440.5 million earned by commercial gaming operators last month. That revenue from combined retail and online gambling of various stripes was up 13% from June 2022 while down 8.1% from May’s total.
The June figures capped a 2022-2023 state fiscal year that the gaming board reported saw record gambling revenue of $5.51 billion, nearly half a billion dollars more than the year before.
While there was modest improvement of 3.2% from a year ago in brick-and-mortar casino gaming revenue in June, to $277.8 million, the year-over-year improvement was driven by gambling done on phones and computers.
Total iCasino revenue of $135.4 million was 31.6% higher than in June 2022. The volume of sports betting at $373.2 million — more than 90% of it done online — was actually 5.2% less than a year ago, but taxable sportsbook revenue of $23.1 million represented an 80.6% increase.
Overall, the gaming industry — which also includes truck stop video gaming terminals and online fantasy sports contests — generated $183.8 million in tax revenue in June for state and local governments.
FanDuel claims half of statewide mobile revenue
The slowing sports calendar always leads to less in the way of sports betting in June than May, and that trough of activity will continue until football brings the annual fall resurgence and peak of betting interest.
Betting handle declined nearly across the board among online and retail sportsbooks between May and June with minor exceptions, such as the small Betway online brand boosting its volume 22.6% to $932,373.
The mass of betting continued to be done with the operators who saw less volume than the month before. Nearly 40% of online bets were placed with FanDuel, whose June handle was $138.6 million. The behemoth’s $16.6 million in gross revenue was more than half of the online statewide total, and it claimed $11.3 million in taxable revenue after deductions for promotional credits.
DraftKings reported $99.8 million in online handle (28.6% of the market), with gross revenue of $7.8 million and adjusted, taxable revenue of $5.9 million.
There was a big drop-off after that to BetMGM’s $29.2 million in monthly handle, followed by Caesars Sportsbook with $19.9 million, Barstool Sportsbook with $16.5 million, and BetRivers with $16.2 million. BetMGM also led those others in gross revenue, with $2.5 million, followed by BetRivers at $1.6 million, Caesars at $1.3 million, and Barstool at $1.1 million.
All told, the top six sportsbooks combined for 91.7% of the handle among the state’s 13 mobile sites.
Retail betting at casinos and off-track betting parlors totaled $23.8 million in handle and $1.3 million in revenue in June.
The sportsbooks’ statewide hold percentage was 9.1%, down from 11.6% in May, indicating a somewhat more successful month for bettors even if they still lost money.
In-person gambling flat for past year
The record fiscal year, which resulted in direct gaming tax revenue of $2.37 billion, was achieved all through increases in iCasino and sports betting revenue, even though those two types of gambling combine for far less earnings than what the 17 brick-and-mortar casinos generate. The $3.426 billion from retail slots and table games over the 12 months in 2022-23 was the same as the year before.
The $1.532 billion in iCasino revenue was 24.4% more than the prior fiscal year, and the $492 million in taxable sports wagering revenue was 55.8% higher than in the year before.
The gaming board’s fiscal year summary also reported $42.1 million in revenue at truck stop VGTs, which was a 1.3% year-over-year increase, and $20.7 million made by fantasy sports contests, a 24.3% decrease.
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