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PokerStars is an online gambling titan in New Jersey. Now, it’s setting its sights on Pennsylvania online gambling.
Earlier this month, Stars Group CEO Rafi Ashkenazi said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that PokerStars is ready to offer online gambling in PA.
“We are poised to take advantage of the positive momentum in the growth of online gaming globally and the continued march towards regulation, including in the United States where we aim to be among the first operators to launch in Pennsylvania when that state opens its door to online poker and casino,” Ashkenazi said.
How PokerStars will fit into the legal PA online poker landscape
The Pennsylvania gambling expansion bill passed at the end of October legalized online gambling, an umbrella term that includes PA online poker, slots, and table games.
Each type of online gambling will require a license, which means the law opened up a total of 36 permits for the state’s 12 brick-and-mortar casinos.
Within the first 90 days of the permits becoming available, casinos can purchase all three licenses for $10 million. Once the 90 days have passed, the price will go up to $4 million per license.
Should PokerStars operate in the state, it will have to pay a $1 million fee to do so.
What the tax structure looks like for PA iGaming
Projections show the average tax rates for Pennsylvania’s online gambling products will be 42 percent. That breaks down to 67.5 percent for slots, 22.5 percent of table games, and 10 percent for poker.
However, that tax rate isn’t the only fee PA casinos will pay. According to estimates, once taxes, administrative needs, regulatory fees, advertising, marketing, and payment processing are taken care of, casinos will be left with approximately five percent of the money generated through their online gambling sites.
As for the state, Harrisburg should see $400 million from Pennsylvania online gambling in the first five years. That number includes $120 million from the licensing fees mentioned earlier, revenue tax, and fees associated with casinos and operators renewing their licensing fees. The projections are that Pennsylvania’s online gambling market will grow from $154 million in Year 1 to $275 million in Year 5.
These numbers take into account Pennsylvania joining a player pool with the other states currently offering legal online poker: Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada.