The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) wrapped up its fiscal year at the end of June and is now showing slot machine revenues at the state’s 12 casinos were up $16 million throughout fiscal 2017/2018.
In fact, in a press release issued this week, the Board said fiscal 2017/2018 marked the eighth consecutive year slot machine revenues hit over $2.3 billion in PA.
Total slot machine revenues of $2,352,320,936 represented a 0.7 percent increase over fiscal 2016/2017.
According to PGCB, slot machine revenue was up in 7 of 12 months during the past fiscal year. This included June 2018, where slot machine revenues rose 4.9 percent from $188.5 million in 2017 to $197.7 million this year.
Thanks to its 54 percent tax rate on slot revenues, among the highest tax rates on slots in the country, the state continued to be the biggest beneficiary of Pennsylvania’s love affair with the one-armed bandits. In fact, the Board reported tax revenue from slots in fiscal 2017/2018 totaled just under $1.2 billion.
Pennsylvania slots have generated $24.8 billion in revenue and $13.3 billion in taxes since the first casino opened in the Commonwealth in November 2006.
PGCB will release fiscal 2017/2018 table game revenue and total gaming revenue figures later this month.
Parx Casino still on top
In the meantime, it appears Parx Casino is once again the state’s annual slot machine revenue king.
The Bensalem horse racing and casino facility generated a whopping $400,733,138 in slot machine revenue throughout fiscal 2017/2018. That represented a 3.66-percent jump over its fiscal 2016/2017 numbers, and almost $100 million more than any other casino in Pennsylvania this year.
Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem came in a distant second, posting $302,054,464 in slot machine revenues, a 0.69 percent drop from fiscal 2016/2017
No other PA casino generated over $300 million in slot machine revenue.
However, King Of Prussia’s Valley Forge Casino Resort saw the largest percentage increase in slots revenue. It generated $86,686,698 in slot machine revenue throughout fiscal 2017/2018, a healthy 8.05-percent jump over the previous fiscal year.
Of course, Valley Forge Casino Resort’s revenue increases come as no surprise. Traffic and revenues have been climbing at the Philadelphia-area casino ever since it paid $1 million to the state to eliminate a $10 resort fee for customers at the end of last year.
Lady Luck, Meadows dip
The tiny Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin saw the largest percentage drop in slot revenues. It’s fiscal 2017/2018 slot revenues were down 4.29 from $30,170,007 in fiscal 2016/2017 to $28,875,296.
However, The Meadows Casino in the Pittsburgh area saw the biggest dollar figure drop. It’s fiscal 2017/2018 slot machine revenues were down more than $8 million from $217,910,016 in fiscal 2016/2017 to $209,520,273.
Currently, the average number of slot machines in operation throughout Pennsylvania is 25,737. In June of last year, that number was 25,685.
The Board says the states 12 operating casinos generate close to $1.4 billion in tax revenue annually. The fiscal 2016/2017 slot machine revenue figures put the state on track to surpass that.
Gaming taxes in PA are used primarily for property tax reduction for older Pennsylvanians.
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