The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has recently released the revenue figures for January 2021. From the get-go, it is pretty clear that the industry is off to a good start despite still facing a few limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic. It seems like we might finally be seeing the long-awaited resurgence of the sector not just in Pennsylvania, but in the rest of the country’s regulated markets as well.
Great Start for Retail Casinos in 2021
Last month, the Keystone State’s retail gambling venues generated a whopping $311 million in revenue. This represents a decent 3 percent rise from the $302.8 million that the sector generated in January 2020. While it is a rather modest increase, it is certainly commendable especially considering the slowdown that the gambling facilities faced since the pandemic started.
The launch of new casinos in the state might have also had something to do with the increase in revenue. Live! Casino Pittsburgh, which opened at the Westmoreland Mall in November, and Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia, which opened on February 11 greatly bolstered the industry’s revenue.
iGaming Hits All-Time High
Online casinos and poker platforms in Pennsylvania also performed exceptionally well. The gaming control board’s figures show the gambling vertical hit a record high of a whopping 480.4 million. From this amount, the state received a total of $17.3 million in taxes and $10.2 million worth of local share assessments and county grants.
As for the specifics of iGaming, poker revenue generally remained stagnant while slots and table games saw a significant surge of activities. Still, slots topped the revenue figures accounting for about $50 million. Table games followed closely behind accounting for more than $25 million.
Sportsbooks Set New Record
Sports betting operators were also not left out of the party. For the first time, the sector cracked the $600 million mark to hit a whopping $615,294, 827 in sports bet handle. This was a modest 12 percent increase over what the PGCB reported for the sector in December 2020.
All in all, these figures show lots of positive signs for the state’s gambling industry in 2021 as mentioned earlier. Online casinos and sportsbooks, in particular, could even break more records in the year. Similarly, as the Keystone State’s retail casinos continue to reopen their doors, even more activity will likely be recorded. While nothing is guaranteed at this point, we are very optimistic about seeing lots of significant gains across the board this year.