Pennsylvania regulators are expected to give the final OK to casinos soon to initiate online sports betting, with state Gaming Control Board members saying online wagering will be available “imminently,” with testing to begin within the next few weeks.
Industry observers are saying the Pennsylvania online sports betting market could end up being the most lucrative in the U.S.
Dustin Gouker, an industry analyst for the Play Pennsylvania gaming news website, predicts the Pennsylvania market will easily rival New Jersey’s online market, which handled nearly $300 million in wagers in March alone.
“It certainly could be bigger than Nevada or New Jersey is right now,” said Gouker. “If everything goes right, and everybody puts out a good app, they’re going to see billions of dollars wagered annually and revenue in the hundreds of millions. It’s going to be robust.”
“When you look at casino gaming overall, Pennsylvania is one of the largest states,” said David Forman, senior director of research for the American Gaming Association, in an interview with the Play Pennsylvania site. “In terms of gaming, Pennsylvania collects more tax revenue than any other state. The appetite for a legal sports betting market there is huge.”
Pennsylvania has been moving slowly on the online portion of its sports betting provision, passed as part of the major gaming expansion law in 2017, partly because of extra caution in light of the recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion that the 1962 Wire Act prohibits interstate exchange of sports betting wagers and information.
“Regulators are rightly focused on the integrity of the bets and making sure operators have reliable platforms to use,” Forman said. “All markets, with maybe the exception of New Jersey, have shown a learning curve. As other states learn and roll this our more broadly, we’ll see an impressive uptick in the amount bets and revenue raised.”
SugarHouse Casino, which has operated its Play SugarHouse sports betting site in New Jersey since last August, will likely be the first to launch in Pennsylvania, opined the Penn Bets website, which added that insiders say Rivers Casino, also owned by Rush Street Gaming, will be next up after that.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved a sports-betting license last week for Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes-Barre. The casino, which was the first to open in Pennsylvania, becomes the seventh of 12 casino licensees in the state approved for sports betting. There also are sports books at two off-track betting parlors.
Before issuing the approval, the board was given a presentation showcasing plans for a new retail sports book, along with an online betting offering. The retail book will occupy 1,130 square feet, with room for 75 customers. It will include 42 couch seats, 23 high-top chairs, an eight-by-15-foot video wall and four three-by-six-foot screens to stream sporting events. There will be seven betting terminals and three teller booths at the main book.
The property is partnering with Kindred’s Unibet brand for the wagering platform, and with Pala Interactive for the online component. Novomatic Americas will supply self-service sports betting terminals for placement throughout the casino floor.
“It’s very modern, very comfortable,” Aviram Alroy, vice president of interactive gaming for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, told board members. “We’re aiming for a very younger age.”
Casino officials did not include a race book in the facility, and mentioned no plans to modify or improve its current race book.
The gaming board also approved Mohegan Sun Pocono’s renovation plan for the casino floor. the casino is relocating its poker room to the main casino floor and reducing the number of slot machines and table games.
The casino also is closing an original casino area located in an older facility near the main casino.
The next licensee to launch a sports book likely will be Presque Isle Downs Casino in Erie, which has a license and expects to open sports betting soon. Mount Airy Casino Resort announced it will submit an application soon.
