Pennsylvania’s 12 commercial casino set a new gaming revenue record for 2019, logging total revenue of $3.4 billion, topping 2018 numbers by 4.5 percent. It was the fifth straight calendar year of rising revenue for Pennsylvania, which is No. 2 in the nation in gross gaming revenue, second only to Nevada.
Part of the revenue rise can be attributed to new gaming under the state’s 2017 expansion law that added video gaming at truck stops and online gaming, as well as sports betting. While truck stops are just ramping up with five VGTs each (generating $2 million in revenue), online gaming contributed $34 million to the revenue total, and sports betting contributed $84 million. Daily fantasy sports contributed nearly $26 million, up by $10.5 million over 2018.
Slot machine revenue constituted most of the revenue, at almost $2.4 billion, which is around $7 million less than in 2018. Revenue from table games rose by about $25 million to more than $900 million.
Sports betting also did well in the state. Though Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks only began operations in May 2019, they logged total handle of $1.49 billion for 2019, after December handle reached $342.6 million, up 8.2 percent over November.
According to statistics released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, some 70 percent of the year’s wagers—$297.4 million—were online bets.
Retail handle actually declined for December by 9.3 percent, to $45.1 million.
The $1.49 billion in wagers yielded only $92.1 million in revenue, thanks to Pennsylvania’s 36 percent revenue tax for sports betting, which is by far the highest in the nation.
FanDuel Sportsbook retained its status as the top sports betting operator in the state, taking $154.5 million in online bets, or 45.1 percent of Pennsylvania’s total handle for December. Rush Street Gaming’s BetRivers sportsbook brand was a distant second with online sportsbooks for Rivers Philadelphia and Rivers Pittsburgh combining for $58.9 million in online handle.
DraftKings Sportsbook, which went live at the beginning of November with Penn National‘s Meadows casino, generated $35.9 million in online handle, which more than doubled November’s $16.2 million in handle. Kindred‘s Unibet brand, partnered with Mohegan Pocono, more than tripled its November total with $6.1 million in handle for December.
FoxBet, the sportsbook from the Stars Group and Fox Sports, also logged impressive growth, generating $16.4 million in bets, up 21.3 percent from November.
Part of that growth is likely due to cross-selling between PA sports betting and online poker, which Stars launched at the beginning of November.
December newcomer BetAmerica, operated by Churchill Downs at its Presque Isle casino, did $129,556 in online handle.
In related news, the ongoing controversy in the state over “skill games”—slot-like machines in private clubs and bars that purport to require an element of skill—heated up last week, as it was revealed Middletown Borough Council’s consideration of an ordinance to ban the games was prompted by a lobbying effort on behalf of Parx Casino in Bensalem.
According to a report in the Middletown Press & Journal, the law firm conducting the statewide effort to seek municipal bans on such games, Eckert Seamans, sent a letter on behalf of Parx to borough officials containing a draft ordinance to ban the machines, which the casino industry considers illegal slot machines, and therefore unlicensed competition to the land-based casino industry.
Council members voted 6-0 to table action on the proposed ordinance, after hearing concerns from nonprofit groups and businesses in Middletown saying they are already benefiting from revenue received from the skill games. Manager Ken Klinepeter told the Press & Journal that council considering the proposal followed the borough receiving a letter in December from a solicitor representing Dauphin County.
The fact that letter was sent on behalf of Parx was not disclosed at the time. Middletown Council President Angela Lloyd told the Press & Journal she did not know the letter was on behalf of the interests of Parx Casino.
Pennsylvania State Police seized skill games from five bars in Cumberland and Dauphin counties in a December raid, before Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued a stay barring State Police from seizing any more of the games, which are marketed by Pace-O-Matic and POM of Pennsylvania. That court action followed a Beaver County judge’s ruling that the Pace-O-Matic games are legal, because they involve skill in determining results.
Dauphin County has supported bans on the machines because it and other municipalities receive millions in local grants funded by Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos.
Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania judge last week lifted the month-old halt to police seizures of Pace-O-Matic machines. Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler denied the request to continue an injunction sought by the Williamsport-based coin-op machine distributor, Miele Manufacturing, which assembles the Pennsylvania Skill machines.
Ceisler cited testimony last week by Pennsylvania State Police Capt. James Jones, who said troopers do not target Pennsylvania Skill devices for seizure, but rather sweep them up along with other suspected illegal gambling machines during broader investigations.
The administration of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf supports banning the devices, which the governor’s representatives estimate diverted more than $200 million in revenue last year from the Pennsylvania Lottery.
State police estimate there are more than 20,000 of the gray-area machines in operation.
