Pennsylvania Internet Gaming Revenue Dipped in June

Last updated on July 18th, 2020

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The Pennsylvania online gaming market remains relatively new, having only launched last summer. While it is easy to compare it to New Jersey and expect internet gambling revenue to similarly rise each month for Pennsylvania. But the market is still finding its way…and during a pandemic nonetheless.

As it stands, only one casino partner offers online poker – Mount Airy with PokerStars – though both PartyPoker and 888platform appear ready to launch soon. There is a solid presence for online casino games, however, that has proven beneficial to the state and shows much promise.

And despite the internet gaming sector’s attempts to find its footing within its first year, it still performed valiantly when the coronavirus pandemic prompted Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to shut down all land-based casinos. Internet games delivered more than $50 million in May, not including online sports betting.

Pennsylvania’s online gambling sites will settle into a consistent and potentially growing market over time.

With that said, June’s igaming revenue numbers did show a downturn, but that coincided the reopening of most of Pennsylvania’s casinos at some point in June.

Gaming Control Board Reports Total Gaming Revenue For June https://t.co/sBtVyi93o3
— PGCB (@PAGamingControl) July 16, 2020

Single-Site Market of Online Poker – June 2020

For another month, PokerStars was the only operator providing online poker to players in Pennsylvania. And there were promotions and tournaments, just not enough to keep revenue stable from May to June. Another decrease does cause concern that it could have the same declining revenue issues as in New Jersey.

–PA online poker revenue in June 2020: $3,240,917 (29.5% decrease)
–May 2020: $4,596,418 (12.5% decrease)
–April 2020: $5,253,304 (67.7% increase)
–March 2020: $3,133,019 (71.2% increase)
–February 2020: $1,830,356 (15.2% decrease)
–January 2020: $2,157,266 (12.8% decrease)
–December 2019: $2,473,137 (25.8% increase)
–November 2019: $1,965,494

When breaking it down with an average per-day revenue:

–PA average online poker revenue per day in June 2020: $108,030.56 (27.1% decrease)
–May 2020: $148,271.55 (15.3% decrease)
–April 2020: $175,110.13 (73.3% increase)
–March 2020: $101,065.13 (60.1% increase)
–February 2020: $63,115.72 (9.3% decrease)
–January 2020: $69,589.23 (10.5% decrease)
–December 2019: $77,778.61 (1.1% decrease)
–November 2019: $78,619.76

Could @partypoker beat @WSOP to a Pennsylvania online poker site launch? Each seem to be progressing toward a late summer debut: https://t.co/XSmv2lEOFt pic.twitter.com/WiNV8K09wq
— Legal US Poker (@legal_poker) July 14, 2020

Nine-Site Market of iGaming – June 2020

Internet gaming totals for the nine operators in Pennsylvania include two main sources of revenue: internet slots and internet table games. The only one with an internet poker component thus far is Mount Airy, and it does give that casino an edge.

Of note is the fact that internet slots revenue decreased in June as table games increased. For the sake of these igaming numbers as a whole, though, we look at the totals for each casino.

–PA internet gaming revenue in June 2020: $50,055,251 (10.36% decrease)
–May 2020: $55,838,789 (29.7% increase)
–April 2020: $43,067,881 (77.5% increase)
–March 2020: $24,265,820 (24.5% increase)
–February 2020: $19,490,815 (39.6% increase)
–January 2020: $13,957,539

For a fourth month, Rivers Casino Philadelphia dominated this state’s igaming market with nearly $15Min revenue. Valley Forge Casino rose from third to second place with more than $7.7 million, and Mount Airy fell to third place with about 43K less.

Thanks to internet games and poker, Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County saw the smallest total revenue drop of all casinos statewide in June, according to numbers released Thursday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. https://t.co/yj1y4lzPAE
— The Citizens' Voice (@CitizensVoice) July 17, 2020

And for the record, internet gaming generated $21,974,585 in tax revenue in June alone for Pennsylvania.

Sports Betting Begins Recovery – June 2020

This part of the market is generally a top performer, but it suffered during the casino shutdowns. And even though nine of the casinos did offer online sports wagering in the past few months, there was little to bet on. Most professional sports had stopped during the shutdown as well.

In June, however, as casinos reopened and sports leagues provided hope of games in the future, sports betting numbers showed life and potential once again.

The handle numbers were:

–PA sports betting handle in June 2020: $89,002,562 (14.8% increase)
–May 2020: $77,510,033 (68.4% increase)
–April 2020: $46,015,988 (185.4% decrease)
–March 2020: $131,330,059 (60.2% decrease)
–February 2020: $329,765,782 (7.5% decrease)
–January 2020: $348,381,708

Total revenue for online betting on sports provided a nice boost:

–PA sports betting revenue in June 2020: $6,660,158 (37.9% increase)
–May 2020: $4,828,989 (67.5% increase)
–April 2020: $2,883,471 (1.39% decrease)
–March 2020: $6,889,255 (45.9% increase)
–February 2020: $4,722,252 (79.3% decrease)
–January 2020: $22,841,213

Land-Based and Internet Gaming in June 2020

After two full months of absolutely no land-based casino revenue, those venues began to reopen, albeit with limited capacity and limited gambling options. Revenue will continue to fluctuate for some time as Covid-19 continues to threaten another wave of cautionary measures. And until scientists develop a reliable vaccine that is available to the public, this revenue source for Pennsylvania could be a roller coaster.

Even so, it did produce well in June as people scurried out of quarantine to step into casinos again.

–PA total gambling revenue in June 2020: $132,582,494
–prior month of May 2020: $60,986,618
–prior year of June 2019: $271,299,166
Year-on-year decrease: 51.1% decrease
Month-on-month decrease: 117.4% increase

As mentioned, the entire year of 2020 could be a roller coaster. If Pennsylvania avoids another outbreak of Covid-19, the casinos will likely continue to grow their revenues again. And if sports across America continue to prep for actual games, sports betting will grow as well.

Another surge or wave of positive cases, however, could turn it all upside-down again.