PA online casinos just closed a fiscal year for the record books with yet another $100 million-plus month. June’s Pennsylvania iGaming gross revenue topped out at nearly $100.9 million.
Of the total revenue last month, more than $72.4 million came from slot games, more than $26.0 million from online table games, and more than $2.4 million from poker. In June the year before, gross revenue was just more than $50 million.
FY 2020/21 revenue for PA online casinos, poker
And FY 2020/21 revenue from iGaming was more than $897.2 million AGR (adjusted gross revenue), a 272.5% increase in revenue when compared to the nearly $240.9 million generated in the previous fiscal year, the first year for online casino gambling in the state. iGaming began in PA just two years ago.
The fiscal year was marked by a remarkable succession of new online gambling records.
The overall 2020/21 FY revenue for all gambling combined in the Commonwealth reached a record $3.875 billion.
The previous FY high revenue was during 2018/2019 when revenue topped slightly more than $3.3 billion.
Overall revenue was supercharged this past year by galloping growth in sports betting and especially iGaming. Video gaming terminals (VGT) and daily fantasy contests also contributed.
Together, those four markets accounted for almost 33% of the total revenue achieved in FY 2020/2021 but online casinos led them all.
COVID hurt traditional gaming revenue, but online alternatives flourished
The year-over-year increase in revenue number is especially significant given casino shutdowns and other factors related to Covid-19 restrictions.
Casinos in PA were closed for three months in the second quarter of 2020 affecting slot machines, table games, VGTs, and retail sports wagering revenue. There was also the stoppage of major sporting events, aside from a few exceptions.
VGTs also bounced back. FY 2020/21 revenue for the machines was more than $31.3 million, a 361% increase over the previous year when revenue was just $6.8 million.
The truck stop gambling devices appeared in August 2019 and just 28 locations were approved by the end of their first fiscal year. Now there are 49 locations, each with five machines, or 245 total.
Other FY 2020/21 takeaways
Penn National was the leading operator over the past fiscal year.
In order following PNG were: Rivers Casino Philadelphia, Valley Forge Casino Resort, MountAiry Casino Resort, and Parx Casino.
There are now 17 different online casinos in PA, the most recent being Betway online casino. It operates under the Live! Casino Philadelphia license. Stardust Casino went live in April, following Borgata Casino‘s launch in February. Barstool Sports is also in the mix with an online casino as of early May.
PA online poker finally has a choice of operators in addition to Mount Airy‘s PokerStars PA, but instead of expanding the revenue base, the new operators are just chopping up the pot. Poker revenue plateaued last fiscal year. Poker revenue dropped 25.4% in June 2021 compared to a year ago when traditional casinos (and poker rooms) were shuttered.
PA strong among iGaming states during 2020/21
In February, newly launched Michigan became the second-largest casino gambling market, with PA dropping to third and New Jersey still firmly at the top.
In June, the top three states by GGR were:
- New Jersey: $107.1 million
- Pennsylvania: $100.8 million
- Michigan: $89.2 million
Live dealer games launched in October, 2020 via Evolution Gaming and additional live dealer options joined the market in the following months.
PA sportsbooks set a record in FY 2020/2021 with $5.6 billion in handle and $440.6 million in revenue. More than 90% of wagers come online. That percentage increased despite lifting virus restrictions.
PA online casino operator revenue in June 2021
| Licensee | Online Brand(s) | Total Revenue | Slots Revenue | Table Games Revenue | Poker Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Penn National | Hollywood | DraftKings | BetMGM | Barstool | $37,205,093 | $24,617,083 | $12,262,772 | $325,238 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | SugarHouse | BetRivers | Borgata | $27,288,552 | $23,661,852 | $3,547,674 | $79,026 |
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | Stardust | $15,940,154 | $8,854,671 | $7,085,483 | $0 |
| Mount Airy | PokerStars | $7,981,005 | $4,829,600 | $1,137,990 | $2,013,415 |
| Parx | Parx | $4,584,732 | $3,971,747 | $612,984 | $0 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $2,545,316 | $2,210,851 | $334,465 | $0 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $2,063,528 | $1,669,249 | $394,278 | $0 |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $1,756,513 | $1,619,915 | $136,598 | $0 |
| Live Philadelphia | PlayLive | Betway | $905,895 | $820,849 | $85,046 | $0 |
| Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $607,287 | $158,670 | $448,617 | $0 |
| Total | $100,878,074 | $72,414,488 | $26,045,907 | $2,417,679 |
Penn National still king of PA online gambling space
Penn National’s online gaming brands Hollywood Casino, DraftKings Casino, and BetMGM PA Casino continued to dominate in June. They combined for more than $37.2 million in online revenue.
Of that, slot revenue was $24.6 million, tables revenue $12.2 million, and poker (BetMGM online poker site) more than $325K.
Rivers Philadelphia second, Valley Forge (fueled by FanDuel) in third
Gross online gaming revenue for Rivers Philadelphia, including online brands SugarHouse, BetRivers Casino, and Borgata Poker, was $27.3 million.
Online slot revenue was $23.6 million, table revenue $3.5 million and online poker less than $80K.
Valley Forge Casino and its FanDuel PA Casino and Stardust skins had gross online gaming revenue of more than $15.9 million.
VF revenue was closely split between online slots and online table games.
Mount Airy a distant fourth, but poker leader
Mount Airy had nearly $8 million in June online revenue, but its slots revenue was just $4.9 million and table games totaled $1.1 million.
They remain the poker leader with PokerStars PA bringing in more than $2 million in June 2021. BetMGM/Borgata Poker sites aren’t threatening seriously yet, but time will tell if the recently launched WSOP PA site can make a run at No. 1.
Lead image credit: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic