On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) released the February revenue figures for the state’s gambling industry. Needless to say, the state has one of the most lucrative betting industries in the United States and this has been proven by all the previous revenue reports.
According to the state gaming regulator, the existing 12 land-based casino operators reported total gaming revenue of more than $304.3 million in the last month. Despite all the challenges that the industry is currently going through it was able to perform exceptionally well. The amount recorded in February was a whopping 13.75 percent increase over what was recorded over the same period last year. It was also $3.5 million above the amount that was recorded in January.
Sitting at the top of the revenue list was Parx Casino which managed to bring in a whopping $57.8 million in revenue. February was a pretty good month for the casino operator since it managed to post an amount that was a whopping 15.5 percent higher than what it recorded in February 2019.
All in all, most of the casino operators performed exceptionally well with only a few of them posting drastic drops in revenue year over year. Total revenue in the Keystone State was up 5.1 percent to a whopping $199.7 million and again Parx claimed the lion’s share of that.
Online betting also performed quite well – the revenue from this sector rose by nearly 40 percent from January. As it turns out, slots were the most popular of the bunch and it accounted for nearly one-third of all online gambling revenue.
Sports Betting Takes A Hit
Unlike other gambling verticals, statewide sports betting in the Keystone State did not perform as well as expected. The total handle clocked in at $329.8 million in February which is a 5.3 percent decline from what was recorded in January. Since the state’s sports betting industry launched, this is the very first time that a decline has been recorded. It is even more significant owing to the fact that both online and retail sports betting revenue were affected by the price dip.
It Could Get Worse
Now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the many gaming operators in the United States have had to shut down their operations. In addition to that, several sporting events and activities have either been postponed or canceled due to the outbreak.
That said, the legalized and regulated sports betting industries in states like Pennsylvania are certainly bound to suffer even more in both the long and short terms. Even daily fantasy sports might not be spared by this issue. This will be very evident when the revenue figures for March are released.