Table games continued their hot streak in 2017, edging past $890 million and marking the seventh-straight year that revenues have increased since they were launched in 2010.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) recently released total gross revenue for slots and table games at Pennsylvania casinos, showing the details of the state’s best year on record.
Overall, the state saw a 4.4 percent increase in gross table game revenue over 2016, which, in dollars, was a jump of more than $47 million.
Anchor casinos report revenue increases
When it comes to table games, there are three casinos that live at the top of the revenue numbers: Sands, Parx, and SugarHouse. They’re the only casinos in the state to pull in more than $100 million in gross revenue.
In 2017, all three saw increases over 2016. Parx led the way with a 10.18 percent jump, moving from $161.8 million to $178.2 million. Sands enjoyed a 5.66 percent increase while SugarHouse noted a +2.90 percent change.
In total, these three casinos pulled in approximately $540 million in revenue, which was around $37 million more than 2016.
Smaller markets see mixed results
The state’s nine remaining casinos did not see quite the success that the top three did. Of these nine, only three saw growth in the past year:
- Mount Airy: +17.61%
- The Meadows: +16.55%
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National: +4.07%
The Meadows also made an impressive move up the standings from ninth to seventh, leaping ahead of Hollywood and Valley Forge.
The other six casinos saw losses ranging from -0.04% (Harrah’s) to -7.12% (Valley Forge). These losses, of course, were mitigated by the big gains from Mount Airy, The Meadowlands, and Hollywood Casino, not to mention the strong performances by the top three casinos.
Here are the complete numbers:
- Sands: +5.66%
- Parx: +10.18%
- SugarHouse: +2.90%
- Rivers: -4.79%
- Harrah’s: -0,04%
- Mount Airy: +17.61%
- Mohegan Sun: -6.66%
- The Meadows: +16.55%
- Hollywood Casino: +4.07%
- Valley Forge: -7.12%
- Presque Isle: -2.65%
- Lady Luck: -2.42%
Dec. 2017 YOY good news for some, bad news for others
The PGCB’s 2017 report also included comparisons of each casino’s table game revenue for the month of December.
Those numbers showed more drastic changes in revenue, several of which were significant for the state’s smaller casinos.
For example, Lady Luck Nemacolin enjoyed a 76.30 percent revenue jump from $251,154 in Dec. 2017 to $442,786 just 12 months later. The casino’s November numbers were also positive: Lady Luck posted a 33.78 percent increase.
Valley Forge, another casino that had negative growth from 2016 to 2017, saw a 16.62 percent jump between Dec. 2016 and Dec. 2017.
The state’s top three table-game revenue earners experienced increased gross revenue in December, with Parx leading the way at 17.75 percent.
Here is a complete list of the December-on-December gross table-games revenue:
- Sands: +10.84%
- Parx: +17.75%
- SugarHouse: +6.16%
- Rivers: -0.32%
- Harrah’s: -4.48%
- Mohegan Sun: -13.60%
- Mount Airy: -7.08%
- Valley Forge: +16.62%
- The Meadows: -1.64%
- Hollywood: -11.32%
- Presque Isle: -20.45%
- Lady Luck: +76.30%
Table games up, slots down and what’s ahead in 2018
In the bigger picture, Pennsylvania’s table games revenue provided some good news after the PGCB announced earlier this month that slots revenue was down from 2016 to 2017.
What will 2018 hold? Momentum-wise, we should see the first steps of development of satellite casinos. The most immediate changes should come with online casinos, as last year’s landmark approval of a gambling expansion bill included online gambling.
And, with sports betting possibly being legal by the summer, additional revenue from online sports betting could flood casino, township and state coffers.
