Sportsbooks in Pennsylvania benefitted from March Madness, taking bout $715 million in bets during the month. PA sports betting apps and retail sportsbooks also rebounded from their worst month ever for gross gaming revenue. In February they reported negative $442,847 but bounced back big in March with $30.4 million.
Pennsylvania online casino and poker sites soared to new heights. In March, PA online casinos set the US monthly record with $142.7 million.
March 2022 numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting
Figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
- Handle: $715 million
- Revenue: $48.5 million/Gross revenue taxable $30.4
- Hold: 6.8%
- Percent of bets placed online: 93%
- Promotional credits: $18.1 million
- April sports betting taxes: $10.3 million to the state and $608,011 to local entities.
- Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook with $267 million
- Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook ($21.8 million)
*Full revenue breakdown below.
5 key takeaways from PA gaming revenue in March 2022
Pennsylvania sportsbooks pass $1 billion mark for lifetime revenue
Hey, who you callin’ a dumpster fire? In October 2019, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ripped Pennsylvania sports betting calling it a “rolling dumpster fire.”
“It’s the opposite of Field of Dreams. If you do that, they won’t come.”
Despite the state’s high tax rate, 14 sports betting apps have launched in PA since the summer of 2019. Now, PA has eclipsed the $1 billion mark for sports betting revenue in just under three years of the arrival of online sportsbooks. And no, we will never miss a chance to bring up these quotes by the former guv.
March Madness and NBA help sportsbooks bounce back
In February, PA sportsbooks finished in the red for the first time largely due to giving out $22.6 million in promo credits. The bettors were successful in February too (3.6% hold for the books). In March, hold increased to 6.7%.
Total gaming revenue ends three-month slide by reaching record high
Gross gaming revenue decreased from December through February. Gross gaming revenue includes all forms of gaming in the state including land-based casinos, iGaming, sports betting, VGTs and DFS. But in March, it stopped the slide in style. Gaming revenue in PA hit an all-time high in March totaling $462.7 million. It broke the previous high of $432.4 million set in Nov. 2021.
- Feb. 2022: $375.6 million
- January 2022: $393.1 million
- Dec. 2022: $406.3 million
- October 2021: $425.9 million
Clearly, Omicron impacted gross gaming revenue during the “down months.” On April 18, Philadelphia reintroduced another mask mandate which applies to Live! Casino Philadelphia and Rivers Casino. So, it will be interesting to see how that impacts revenue compared to the rest of the state which is not under masking orders.
PA online casinos and Penn National continue to dominate
Pennsylvania online casino revenue continues to climb each month and in March, hit a new high…for now. March wasn’t just state record, it was a U.S. record for iGaming.
Penn National remains the top iGaming operator in PA. Their various online casino “skins” which include BetMGM, Barstool, and Hollywood casino led the way with $55.2 million in gross revenue. Penn National also launched another online casino in PA, PointsBet, in April. Their numbers aren’t included this month.
How is Barstool Sportsbook doing in PA?
Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden has said during the company’s quarterly reports that he wants Barstool Sportsbook to be judged on net gross revenue (revenue minus promo credits).
Barstool Sportsbook in March
- Revenue: $2.7 million
- Promo credits: $1 million
- NGR: $1.6 million
Barstool in February 2022:
- Revenue: $1.9 million
- Promo credits: $859,553
- NGR: $1.1 million
Barstool in January 2022:
- Revenue: $3.3 million
- Promo credits: $1.7 million
- NGR: $1.5 million
PA sports betting handle & revenue by operator March 2022
| Licensee | Online Brand | Total Handle | Total Revenue | Online Handle | Online Revenue | Retail Handle | Retail Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | $269,051,131 | $22,029,254 | $267,064,436 | $21,876,763 | $1,986,696 | $152,491 |
| Hollywood Meadows | DraftKings | $166,218,625 | $6,873,695 | $164,777,612 | $6,677,395 | $1,441,013 | $196,301 |
| Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $79,287,597 | $5,305,875 | $78,405,972 | $5,199,757 | $881,626 | $106,118 |
| Hollywood Penn National | Barstool | $57,796,260 | $2,616,710 | $55,292,889 | $2,751,480 | $2,503,370 | -$134,770 |
| Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $32,705,896 | $2,624,139 | $27,005,616 | $1,821,592 | $5,700,281 | $802,547 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | SugarHouse | $24,429,000 | $1,712,911 | $18,017,534 | $843,550 | $6,411,466 | $869,361 |
| Parx | Parx | $20,526,758 | $2,048,811 | $14,897,055 | $1,471,738 | $5,629,702 | $577,073 |
| Hollywood York | PointsBet | $15,894,813 | $1,446,461 | $14,464,807 | $1,259,185 | $1,430,006 | $187,275 |
| Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $11,449,181 | $891,931 | $11,045,918 | $868,222 | $403,263 | $23,709 |
| Live Philadelphia | Betway | $9,429,336 | $896,959 | $2,702,475 | $38,016 | $6,726,861 | $858,943 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | Unibet | $7,323,547 | $537,466 | $6,275,705 | $404,279 | $1,047,843 | $133,187 |
| Harrah’s Philadelphia | Caesars | $6,940,939 | $100,295 | $3,425,796 | $19,912 | $3,515,142 | $80,384 |
| Presque Isle | TwinSpires | $6,102,871 | $544,906 | $2,823,705 | $260,693 | $3,279,165 | $284,213 |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $2,523,512 | $312,981 | $782,410 | $51,313 | $1,741,102 | $261,668 |
| South Philly OTB | $2,259,788 | $306,623 | $0 | $0 | $2,259,788 | $306,623 | |
| Lehigh OTB | $1,296,034 | $120,990 | $0 | $0 | $1,296,034 | $120,990 | |
| Live Pittsburgh | $1,235,224 | $108,701 | $0 | $0 | $1,235,224 | $108,701 | |
| Parx Malvern | $506,066 | $33,553 | $0 | $0 | $506,066 | $33,553 | |
| Total | $714,976,578 | $48,512,264 | $666,981,930 | $43,543,895 | $47,994,649 | $4,968,369 |
PA iGaming revenue by operator in March 2022
| Licensee | Total Revenue | Slots | Tables | Poker | Promos | State/Local Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Penn National | $51,639,484 | $36,114,105 | $15,241,712 | $283,667 | $8,977,896 | $17,132,024 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | $30,816,996 | $27,638,626 | $3,099,036 | $79,334 | $6,299,528 | $12,029,689 |
| Valley Forge | $19,600,645 | $9,848,808 | $9,751,836 | $0 | $1,102,619 | $6,283,236 |
| Mount Airy | $6,950,248 | $4,265,976 | $1,044,401 | $1,639,871 | $2,686,948 | $1,278,600 |
| Parx | $3,538,516 | $3,086,422 | $452,094 | $0 | $553,407 | $1,440,163 |
| Live Philadelphia | $3,267,911 | $2,564,213 | $703,698 | $0 | $541,429 | $1,204,895 |
| Harrah’s Philadelphia | $3,180,107 | $1,897,064 | $404,792 | $878,251 | $362,177 | $1,027,329 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $2,075,025 | $1,803,401 | $271,624 | $0 | $456,664 | $770,698 |
| Wind Creek | $1,458,669 | $1,367,897 | $90,772 | $0 | $292,607 | $595,180 |
| Presque Isle | $1,220,440 | $863,019 | $357,421 | $0 | $55,471 | $493,263 |
| Total | $123,748,040 | $89,449,530 | $31,417,388 | $2,881,123 | $21,328,747 | $42,255,078 |
Press release: Pennsylvania Sportsbooks Surge On March Madness While State’s Online Casinos Set U.S. Revenue Record
Contact: Zack Hall, Catena Media, [email protected]
Lead image by David J. Phillip
