The past year has been quite challenging for several businesses across the United States. Pennsylvania, like many other states, also suffered a huge blow to its economy. One of the biggest casualties in the state was the gambling sector. This was due to the closure of land-based gambling and entertainment venues as a response to the measures that were introduced to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Understandably, online gambling activities in Pennsylvania and many other states rose significantly. The restricted access to land-based gaming facilities as well as the fact that more people were now staying home largely contributed to this. Everything was going so well for the iGaming sector that it even recently crossed the $100 million mark.
Now, everyone expected everything to return to the way it was as normalcy begins to be realized across the country. There has been a lot of success with the vaccine and thus several of the venues that had been previously closed, or opened albeit in a limited capacity, are fully reopening their doors.
However, things seem not to be going as well as everyone initially anticipated. There are concerns that in Pennsylvania specifically, things might have taken a rather unexpected turn. According to Deutsche Bank gaming specialist Carlo Santarelli, this might be an indication that gambling may have permanently moved online.
How True Is This?
Well, truth be told, the notion that the presence of online gambling will somehow stunt the recovery of the land-based casino sector is quite hard to dismiss now. The Keystone State has recently broken monthly gambling revenue records and it is quite clear that online gambling contributes greatly to that.
Still, there are a lot of factors that contribute to this. It is not just the players who are undeniably an essential part of this equation. Online casinos offer a lot of perks and value for players but so did land-based casinos. So, what is happening?
Many of the retail gambling operators were already offering some online gaming options. This saved them some trouble through the pandemic. Even after the reopening of casino businesses many of them still seem to be more focused on the iGaming sector. To put this into perspective, more funds are being spent on the marketing and promotion of online gambling sites as compared to their land-based counterparts.
While we can tell a lot from what is happening right now, it would also be wise to be open-minded. The gambling sector is very dynamic and is no stranger to monumental shifts. Perhaps we should wait and see how this plays out in the long run.