January delivered solid but not record-breaking numbers to Pennsylvania’s gaming industry, including $772.3 million in sports betting handle with $58 million in gross revenue for operators.
The monthly financial report released Friday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board showed that unlike several recent months, the iCasino sector did not set a new high, although the $133.1 million in revenue wasn’t far behind December’s record $134.6 million.
The best news may have been for brick-and-mortar casinos, whose $286.2 million in slots and table games revenue last month was both 2.3% better than December’s figure and 16% higher than in January 2022. The latest figure includes $464,365 earned by the 17th and newest casino, Parx Shippensburg, in six days after its soft opening on Jan. 26.
The state and local governments in Pennsylvania derived $188.3 million in tax revenue last month from all forms of commercial gaming, which also include modest amounts generated by truck stop video gaming terminals and fantasy sports contests.
It’s FanDuel and then everyone else
The combined mobile and retail sports handle was an increase from December but 2.7% less than the $793.7 million of January 2022, which was a state record at the time. The operators’ $58 million in gross revenue was offset by $18.7 million in promotional credits, leaving them with a combined $39.3 million in taxable income.
Impressive even by its longtime standards as the most popular mobile sportsbook site in Pennsylvania, FanDuel claimed $26.9 million of that total $39.3 million in taxable revenue. That was from its $313 million in handle, with $35.7 million in gross revenue.
DraftKings reported $199.9 million in online handle, $7.7 million in gross revenue, and $3.8 million in adjusted, taxable revenue — all second in the state behind FanDuel.
Other top online operators clearing more than a million dollars in taxable income were BetMGM with $52.5 million handle and $4.8 million (gross)/$2.1 million revenue (adjusted) and Barstool Sportsbook with $40.2 million handle and $2 million/$1.4 million revenue.
Caesars Sportsbook regained fifth place in handle last month from BetRivers — by a comparison of $32.5 million to $29 million — but its taxable revenue of $95,518 was far less than BetRivers’ $758,990.
The Super Bowl, played on Feb. 12, was not part of the January revenue report, but the gaming board reported this week that the Pennsylvania sportsbooks did spectacularly on it — no doubt due to heavy betting in the state on the favored Philadelphia Eagles, who lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In total, the sportsbooks’ handle of $84.3 million was up 24% over the prior Super Bowl, with revenue of $29.7 million dwarfing the $4.6 million from the 2022 contest.
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