Contents

After 11 straight months of declines, Pennsylvania slot machine revenues rebounded in September.

In fact, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released figures Oct. 3 showing slot machine revenue at the state’s 12 casino properties was up 1.7 percent last month.

Gross slot machine revenue during September 2017 reached $195.3 million compared to $192.1 million in September 2016. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board claimed nine of the 12 PA casinos reported slot machine revenue increases throughout the month.

The three PA casinos still reporting slot machine revenue declines included:

Parx remains PA slot machine revenue leader

Parx Casino continued to set the pace, posting the state’s biggest slot machine revenue numbers by a fairly large margin once again. In fact, Parx reported a slot machine revenue increase of 1.8 percent in September, up to $32.3 million from $31.8 million in the same month last year.

Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem was a relatively distant second, posting $24.8 million in slot machine revenue throughout the month. This represented a 0.2 percent increase from the $24.7 million in slots revenue Sands reported in September 2016.

The biggest slot machine revenue gains were reported by Mount Airy Casino Resort. Its slot machine revenues were up 11.4 percent from $12 million in September 2016 to
$13.4 million last month.

The average number of slot machines operating in the state in September 2017 was 25,971. This number was actually down from 26,632 in September 2016.

PA casinos pay almost $100 million in slot taxes

Pennsylvania casinos pay a whopping 54 percent tax rate on slot machine revenues. This remains among the largest casino and gaming tax rates in the United States.

As a result, Pennsylvania paid more than $96.1 million in tax revenue from slot machines in the month of September.

Table game revenues in the state were down in August for the 11th straight month. Increases in table game revenues have helped offset the declining slot revenues over the 11-month slide.

As it happened, a table game revenue increase of close to 11 percent in August helped the state’s 12 casinos post a 2.5 percent increase in total gambling revenues for the month. This despite the fact PA table game revenues represent an average of just 25 percent of overall gambling revenues.

Table game and overall gambling revenue numbers for the month of September have yet to be released.

Comprehensive gambling expansion legislation

Pennsylvania lawmakers are technically still considering comprehensive gambling expansion legislation, though their failure to reach a deal last week is not a good sign.

They hoped online gambling regulation would increase overall gaming tax revenue by as much as $250 million annually. Gambling expansion measures being considered include:

  • Online casinos
  • Online poker rooms
  • Video gaming terminals at truck stops and liquor licensed establishments
  • Satellite casinos (mini casinos) in underserved locations