PA online casino games generated gross revenue of more than $57 million during September, the highest in a single month so far for Pennsylvania.
Of the September total, online slots accounted for more than $39.9 million in revenue, with an additional $14.7 million from online table games.
In August, online slot games accounted for $39.6 million and online table games just under $13.6 million.
Total online slot wagers held steady at $1.06 billion for September, while table games saw a month-over-month increase from $812.5 million to $926.8 million wagered.
New iGaming record despite poker’s continued slide
Online poker, with just one operator, PokerStars via Mount Airy Resort, generated September revenue of nearly $2.4 million.
Poker continues to slide, down from $2.7 million in revenue in August.
With poker rolled into the other online revenues, the September figure came in at just over $57 million, according to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) figures.
In September a year ago, when the iGaming industry in PA was just getting off the ground, revenue was just $4.1 million. That revenue has increased nearly 12.8x in September 2020.
Total September revenue up, retail down more than 16%
In September, total gaming and fantasy revenue was more than $284.2 million. That’s an increase of 1% compared to September 2019, when casinos were open at full capacity.
By comparison, slot and table revenue in brick-and-mortar casinos were down 16% in September compared to a year ago.
With sharply fewer machines in play due to virus restrictions, slot revenue last month was more than $157.4 million, and table games revenue was over $59.1 million. Thankfully for the PA gaming market (and tax revenue), online gaming channels have made up the difference.
PA sportsbooks eclipse $400 million in handle
PA sports betting has bounced back in a big way, with September offering a packed-full menu of sports. The total sports handle reached a new record of nearly $462.8 million, more than double September 2019, when the handle was just $194.5 million.
However, the taxable sports revenue figure for September 2020 was just below $6.3 million, which was 58% lower than a year ago, when it was nearly $14.9 million.
September’s handle was a whopping 26.8% increase over the previous record of $365 million set in August.
September online casino breakdown by PA operator
A complete breakdown of September revenue, including slots and table games by operator (online gaming license holder), can be found here:
| Casino Operator | Total Revenue | Slots Revenue | Table Games Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rivers Philly (SugarHouse & BetRivers) | $16.1 million | $14.4 million | $1.7 million |
| Penn National (DraftKings Casino) | $10.2 million | $4.6 million | $5.6 million |
| Valley Forge (FanDuel) | $9.1 million | $5.1 million | $4.0 million |
| Mt. Airy (PokerStars & Fox Bet) | $6.6 million | $2.7 million | $1.5 million |
| Parx Casino | $6.2 million | $5.2 million | $1.0 million |
| Penn National (Hollywood Casino) | $4.6 million | $4.2 million | $334,000 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono (Unibet) | $2.4 million | $2.0 million | $406,000 |
| Harrah's Philly (Caesars) | $784,000 | $748,000 | $37,000 |
| Wind Creek Casino | $562,000 | $475,000 | $88,000 |
| Presque Isle Downs (BetAmerica) | $406,000 | $333,000 | $73,000 |
| Live! Casino Philadelphia | $104,000 | $89,000 | $15,000 |
| Totals: | $54.7 million | $39.9 million | $14.7 million |
Casino operators by the numbers
Five operators had total online casino revenue above $5 million.
Rivers Philly, which combines SugarHouse and BetRivers, topped $16 million, with $14.4 million revenue from slots.
Penn National/DraftKings topped $10 million in online revenue, with the twist that $5.6 million — or more than half — came from table games, which is not the norm. It was the first month since launch in early May that DraftKings Casino surpassed online casino FanDuel for revenue.
Valley Forge/FanDuel hit $9.1 million in online revenue.
Mount Airy, which includes PokerStars and Fox Bet, hit $6.6 million.
And Parx had $6.2 million in revenue.
Live! Casino Philadelphia, which is new, having opened online before having a casino built, trailed everyone else with just $104,000 in total revenue in its first full month in operation.
Lead image credit: AP Photo/Michael Conroy