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PA casino revenue, at a glance
Total casino revenue increased year over year for the month of April, according to figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The state’s 12 casinos took in $285.2 million last month. That’s an increase of 1.4 percent over April of 2016 ($281.2 million).
All of that uptick is due to a substantial increase in revenue from table games. Blackjack, roulette and other games brought in $79.5 million for the casinos last month. In April of last year, that figure was just $72.2 million, meaning revenue increased more than 10 percent.
PA casinos needed all of that revenue to offset a bad month for slots, however. Slots saw a noticeable drop for the seventh straight month. Total revenue clocked in at $205 million, down 1.6 percent from April 2016’s receipts of $209 million.
Winners and losers for PA casinos
It was a very good month for some PA casinos, and a very bad one for others.
Sands Bethlehem saw the biggest revenue increase, year over year, in terms of dollars, up $4.4 million $48.3 million. That was an increase of more than 10 percent.
That big month put it within striking distance of the reigning No. 1 casino in PA, Parx ($49 million, up one percent).
Two other smaller casinos also saw double digit percentage increases: Valley Forge (10.9 percent to $10.8 million) and Mount Airy (11.1 percent to $17.6 million).
The casinos with the worst months:
- Rivers, No. 2 in PA, dropped 5.6 percent to $28.9 million.
- Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs, down 7.6 percent to $21.7 million.
- Lady Luck Nemacolin, down 7.9 percent to $2.9 million.
Here is how all the casinos fared:
Can the slot slide turn around in PA?
The slot revenue slide continues to be a concern to the PA casino industry, as it has been more than half a year since slots have done better than the previous year.
It’s not clear anything can be done to stem the tide. At best — barring some sort of fundamental change — it appears slot revenue has hit a ceiling in the state for the existing 12 casinos. Further erosion of slot revenue would mean even less money for the state’s coffers in terms of taxes.
The state legislature is currently debating changes to state gaming law. The measures in play include the possibility of video gaming terminals in taverns, which would further take away from casinos’ bottom line for slots.