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Pa Gambling Revenue

4/5/2022
Pa Gambling Revenue Rating: 3,7/5 8623 votes

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said revenue at the state's 12 casinos, as well as through fantasy sports contests and video gambling terminals at truck stops, rose in 2019 by $146 million. Sources of gaming revenue regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board include slot machines, table games, internet gaming, retail and internet sports wagering, fantasy contests and video gaming terminals (VGTs). The Board has posted separate reports for these types of gaming on its website.

  • Nov 19, 2020 Internet casino games in Pennsylvania generated $59.7 million in revenue in October, compared to $4.9 million last year when only three casinos had launched their online offerings. Sports betting, which is mostly conducted online, generated $36.8 million in revenue in October, more than double the $15 million booked a year ago.
  • Nov 18, 2020 The retail sportsbooks and mobile sports betting applications reported $36.8 million in gross revenues, and the state received $12.5 million in tax funding as a result, by far a record for state revenue. The previous high-water mark was $7.8 million in January.
  • Pennsylvania legalized both as part of an aggressive gambling expansion in 2017. Pennsylvania was the nation’s No. 2 state for commercial casino revenue in 2019, behind Nevada, according to.

According to The American Gaming Association (AGA), the gambling industry in the US is worth $261 billion and supports 1.8 million jobs in 40 states (1); however, gambling has had a difficult (and illegal) history in the USA and it is just up until now that the path is being cleared.

Several anti-gambling laws have been in place since the great depression and gaming has been heavily regulated ever since. Some of those regulations haven’t been updated since the 60’s. Despite this, the widespread use of the internet (and online casinos) have made the betting scene change notably and laws have started to shift (2).

Today, the industry faces a rapid growth and increased revenue moving away from the stigma it once held, making it easier for people to access online gaming and betting.

Gambling Revenues in the USA

USA gambling revenues increased to over $160 billion in 2018. Now that sports betting is legal, most gaming experts and financial analysts predict the total revenues for US betting each year will top $200 billion. Whether it’s a lottery ticket, slot machines, sports bets, bingo, or poker, Americans love to gamble.

As each year passes, US state governments expand legalized and regulated games of chance, which encourages more gambling. 2018 was no different. Below is a breakdown of the revenue generated by each form of betting each year.

INDUSTRY2017 GROSS REVENUES2018 GROSS REVENUES
Commercial Casinos$41.2 Billion$51.4 Billion
Tribal Casinos$31.945 Billion$32.801 Billion
Poker Rooms$1.9 Billion$1.9 Billion
Lottery Revenues$80.55 Billion$72 Billion
Legal Bookmaking$248 Million$430.6 Million
US Online Gambling$247.5 Million$306.5 Million
Pari-Mutuel$295 Million$299 Million
Charitable Games/Bingo$2.15 Billion$2.1 Billion
Total Revenue$158.54 Billion$161.24 Billion

USA Casino Revenues

US commercial casinos generated $41.2 billion in 2017, a 3.7% increase year-to-year from 2016 and a new record for gross gaming revenues for US commercial casinos. New casinos in Maryland and New York added to the increased revenues in 2017. MGM National Harbor in Maryland was the most successful new casinos, but Del Lago Resorts, Rivers Casino, and Resorts World Catskills in New York state also contributed.

In all, commercial casinos generated $51,395,562,664 in revenues in 2018. The total represents a 3.5% increase over 2017. Commercial casinos sustained 737,450 jobs and paid $34.334 billion in worker income. The Las Vegas Strip generated $6.59 billion in gaming revenues in 2018, making it the top destination. Atlantic City came in second with $2.51 billion, which shows a strong 5-year bounce back from its $2.1 billion in 2014. Chicagoland, Baltimore-Washington DC, and New York City finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th among commercial casino markets.

USA Tribal Casino Revenues

The National Indian Gaming Council still has not released full tribal casino statistics, so the NIGC’s 2016 gross gaming revenues are the most recent official revenue statistics. In 2016, America’s tribal casinos generated $31.195 million in gross gaming revenues. That is up nearly $1.3 billion from 2015, which itself increased $1.4 billion from 2014. If one projected similar growth year-to-year from 2016 to 2017, one might expect to see gross gaming revenues in the range of $33.3 billion for 2017. To avoid speculation, we list the 2016 official statistics. The NIGC releases the previous year’s figures in June or July each year, so check back for the latest results.

Tribal casinos generated $32.801 billion in 2018 — a 3.5% increase over 2017. At its current pace, the tribal casino industry should overtake commercial casino revenues by the year 2030. Like the commercial gambling industry, a handful of tribal casinos launched sportsbooks.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians opened sports betting at their three land-based casinos, while the Pueblo of Santa Ana opened a sportsbook at Santa Ana Star Casino near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bookmakers’ success could open the door for many other tribal sportsbooks across the United States.

US Poker Room Revenues

Nevada poker room revenues showed less than 1% growth, as gross gaming revenues were $118.46 million. The 2017 poker rake was $117.7 million. The Nevada figures were a minor miracle, considering that several Nevada poker rooms closed in the past year. MGM Resorts closed the Mirage poker room in February 2017, while the Hard Rock Las Vegas poker room closed in March 2017 and Luxor cardroom closed in May 2017. (The cardrooms for the Linq, Eastside Cannery, The Plaza, and Aliante Casino closed in 2016.)

Atlantic City’s seven poker rooms added $28.38 million in gross gaming revenues in 2017. Pennsylvania’s live poker revenues equaled $60 million. MGM National Harbor in Maryland collected $44.5 million in poker rake alone last year, which was the vast bulk of Maryland poker revenues in 2017. New York’s new live poker rooms, on the other hand, contributed only $6.7 million to the nation’s live poker revenue total. It is difficult to calculate accurately the live poker revenues for America’s 6,100+ live poker rooms. Tribal casinos contain many card rooms and they do not have to report their earnings to states. Thus, it is likely that some poker revenues might be listed under tribal casino statistics.

Nevada poker rooms increased their total rake from $118.45 million to $120.1 million. On the other hand, Atlantic City poker revenues dropped from $28.38 million in 2017 to $27.028 million in 2018. Pennsylvania’s live poker revenues remained in the $60 million range. MGM National Harbor remained high with over $45 million in poker rake, while the New York state live card rooms continued with a week haul with a little over $7 million in revenues. As always, it’s difficult to gauge total poker revenues, because tribal casinos include their poker rake with their other casino games.

Ultimately, the official US poker room revenues remained steady at $1.9 billion. 2018 showed the US poker industry holding steady after two years of decline. Fewer Las Vegas casinos have card rooms than they did ten years ago, but 2018 did not have any major Vegas poker rooms close. 2016 and 2017 showed a marked decline. MGM Resorts closed the Mirage poker room in February 2017, Hard Rock Las Vegas’s poker room closed in March 2017, and the Luxor cardroom closed in May 2017. In 2016, the cardrooms for The Plaza, the LINQ, Eastside Cannery, and Aliante Casino closed. Still, the United States has over 6,100 poker rooms, so the revenue stream remained steady throughout 2018.

New Jersey Online Gambling Revenues

US online gambling produced $247.5 million in revenues in 2017. New Jersey’s online gambling industry continues to grow. In 2017, the combined revenue of Atlantic City’s online casinos and poker sites was $245 million. That’s a 21% increase from 2016 when New Jersey’s iGaming niche generated $195 million. Delaware added only $2.4 million in online gambling revenues, which was an 18% decline.

Mike Lawton of the Nevada Gaming Control Board said online poker revenues are included in total poker revenues for the state, so it is hard to get official statistics for Nevada online poker. Given the fact, only two Nevada online poker sites exist and state regulators try to hide the small revenue stream, one can assume Nevada’s iPoker stats are tiny. Nevada has about twice the online gamblers as Delaware, so $5 million is a safe assumption. Those poker revenues are not included in our figures, though, because they are included in Nevada’s overall poker stats.

New Jersey grabbed the lion’s share of legal US online gambling revenues in 2018 with $298.7 million. Five years into its experiment with online gambling, New Jersey’s online casino and poker portals continue to grow apace. Delaware and Nevada both have regulated online poker, but despite the Multi-State Internet Gambling Association (MSIGA), their revenues were negligible. Pennsylvania will be a huge factor in 2019, but its online poker and casino industry was still getting off the ground in 2018.

Interstate online gambling faces a severe test in 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice declared in January 2019 that interstate online poker is illegal under federal law, striking a blow to the MSIGA pact between Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. The New Hampshire Lottery sued because its online lotto ticket sales are endangered by the 2019 DOJ opinion, while New Jersey and Pennsylvania filed their own lawsuit to protect their online poker and casino industries. Whatever happens with the legal cases, US online gambling revenue growth should be significant in the coming year, because Pennsylvania’s iGaming industry launches.

US Lottery Revenues

Like the tribal casino revenues, compiling an official list of lottery revenues takes a bit longer each year, because of the patchwork of state-run lotteries and multistate lottery associations. In 2016, US lottery ticket sales were $80.5 billion. The projected figures for 2017 are expected to exceed $85 billion, due to upticks in the sale of scratchcards and the increases in the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot sizes. Scratch-off tickets are the biggest contributor, with the Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state lottery association games contributing the second and third-most to the revenue pool.

New York state had the biggest lottery ticket sales, with over $10 billion. California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas were next in line. Each of those four states had between $5 billion and $6.5 billion in lottery sales.

The combined revenues of US lotteries for 2018 sit around the $72 billion mark. The U.S. Census Bureau releases the official lottery revenue statistics each year. So far, the Census Bureau has not released official 2018 lottery revenues. The 2017 lottery total was $71.826 billion, while the 2016 lottery statistics were $72.649 billion. That shows a regression of nearly $800 million from 2016 to 2017, though that number reflects a statistical anomaly in lottery drawings more than a loss of interest in the state and multistate lotteries.
State politicians are leery of allowing legal online gambling, though, because they fear it would harm lottery sales. Departing Michigan Gov. Bill Snyder vetoed an online poker and casino bill in December 2018, because he said lottery taxes are higher and iGaming would hurt lottery sales (thus tax revenues). Given the recent trends, it’s a safe bet that US lottery revenues in 2018 were around $72 billion for the year. Mega Millions and Powerball drawings continue to dominate national attention, while their revenues increase year to year.

United States Legal Sportsbooks

The revenue figures for US legal sportsbooks came from Nevada and Delaware in 2017. Nevada bookmakers won $248 million from sports bettors in 2017, which was a record year. New forms of betting on eSports helped, though the growing impact of William Hill USA on the Nevada sports betting scene helped. Even hockey betting was up in 2017, thanks to the inclusion of the Las Vegas Golden Knights to the NHL. The Golden Knights’ surprising first-year performance helped drive local sports betting, though it was general NFL, Super Bowl, MLB, NBA, and March Madness betting which generated the most revenues.

Delaware, which had legalized sports lotteries, generated the remaining $6 million in sports betting revenues. Delaware’s sports lotteries require players to make parlay bets of 3 or more games. Delaware sportsbook revenues should increase significantly in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s repeal of the PASPA sports betting ban. Delaware plans to open legal sportsbooks at Dover Downs, Delaware Park, and Harrington Raceway on June 5, 2018. New Jersey sportsbooks at the Atlantic City casinos and Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport should follow suit quickly. US sports betting revenues should have a big jump in 2018.

Given the landmark US Supreme Court decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) as unconstitutional, US sports betting revenues increased significantly. Several states (New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi, West Virginia) legalized sports betting in the months after the May 14 SCOTUS decision. Led by New Jersey, the new sports gambling jurisdictions generated $129.6 million in a little over 6 months of activity.

Meanwhile, Nevada benefited from the additional media coverage given to sportsbooks, so it generated $301.0 million. In all, the legal US sports betting industry generated $430.6 million in revenues – a $182 million increase from 2017. The number should increase significantly in 2019, when New Jersey and Mississippi feature a full year of sportsbook operations. Pennsylvania bookmakers also launched in late 2018 and early 2019, which should boost numbers greatly.

US Pari-Mutuel Racebook Revenues

Pari-mutuel racebooks generated $300 million in revenues in 2018. Pari-mutuel wagering is the legal term for betting on horse racing and dog racing. Bettors receive winning for the thoroughbreds, harness racers, or greyhounds which finish in the top three of a particular race (win-show-place). Pari-mutuel wagering also includes a variety of trifecta bets and parlay bets, which pay out more, but hit for the bettor less often.

Dog racing now is allowed in only 5 US states, as the Florida electorate voted to ban greyhound racing (Amendment 13) in the coming years. Most greyhound tracks continue to act as off-track betting facilities (OTBs), offering simulcasting and wagers at over 200 race venues worldwide. Churchill Downs, site of the annual Kentucky Derby, continues to generate almost 60% of the racebook revenue ($175 million) in the United States. Besides the world-famous Louisville-area horse track, Churchill Downs Incorporated owns racetracks and even a few land-based casinos across the United States.

The US pari-mutuel racebook industry must find new ways to drive customers or die a slow death in America. Race betting declined significantly in the past generation due to competition from the lottery, tribal casinos, online casinos, and mobile betting. After the US Supreme Court repealed the federal ban on sports betting (PASPA) in May 2018, sports betting should grow significantly in the coming 5 to 10 years. US pari-mutuel racebooks face another major competitor, so they’ll need to find innovative ways to bet on horse and dog racing or that $300 million total will decline.

For generations, charitable bingo halls have generated cash for civic organizations, veterans groups, religious groups, fraternal organizations, firefighters, and other charity organizations. Charitable bingo remains a major focus, but organizations also hold raffles, poker nights, and sell pull-tab games to the public.

As lottery betting and tribal casinos have increased over the past two decades, charitable gaming and bingo participation has decreased in many states. Charitable gaming is a major source of fundraising for nonprofit organizations in the United States. The numbers haven’t declined across the board, as Michigan’s poker nights (millionaires clubs) increased greatly from 2002 to 2012, due to making it easier to attain a charitable gaming license. Even in Michigan, though, the decline since 2012 has been significant. Meanwhile, Minnesota increased its charitable gaming revenues significantly, as part of a plan to fund the Minnesota Vikings’ football stadium.

As the US population has increased in the past 16 years, the number of charitable organizations holding bingo nights and raffles has increased. That means the overall decline in charitable gaming revenues was slight, from $2.2 billion to $2.15 billion, though the decline in revenue-per-venue and real money value due to inflation is stark.

Each US state organizes and regulates charitable gaming in their own way. Groups pays taxes to the states, but otherwise remain coy about their fundraising. Different states have different terms for their games (Millionaire’s clubs, pickle games, fish games), which adds to the confusion. This makes a completely accurate total of charitable gaming revenues more an estimate than an official tally. Charitable gaming revenues stayed in the $2.1 billion range for 2018.

What Is Online Gambling in the US?

The gambling industry in the United States is the sum total of all forms of legal betting. US gambling includes commercial and tribal casinos, state and multistate lotteries, sportsbooks and racebooks, real money online casinos and poker sites, as well as charitable gaming and bingo halls.

US gambling statistics do not include unregulated online gambling, local bookies, organized poker games in your neighborhood, office pools, fantasy leagues, or March Madness brackets. Because such gaming is unregulated and untaxed, it is hard to get accurate statistics for them. The American Gaming Association and other groups estimate yearly betting turnover of illegal gambling, but the AGA’s data is an educated guess.

In this US gambling report, Online United States Casinos stick to the facts. Most of the statistics below are compiled from state regulatory agencies. Each month, gaming commissions, gaming control boards, and state lotteries across the United States produce gambling statistics. We’ve collected the latest gaming data and compiled it into several gambling categories, which we present below.

Is Gambling Legal in the US?

Many forms of gambling are legal in the United States, but no form of gambling is legal everywhere. Because the United States is a constitutional republic with a federated system of government, the USA is a patchwork of state and federal gaming laws. That makes gambling legality complicated in the United States. What it does mean is Americans who love to bet can find places to live with permissive gambling laws, while Americans who dislike gambling can find states where gambling is 100% banned.

In Which States Is Gambling Legal?

US gambling laws are complicated because each state deals with its own gaming interests and social mores. Nevada is the most pro-gambling states in the United States, as Las Vegas and Reno are gambling destinations. At the same time, Nevada is one of a handful of states which bans lotteries — because it would compete with the billion-dollar resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Kentucky bans casino betting, though it is the center of the United States horse racing (and horse betting) industries.

As a general rule, legalized gambling has expanded greatly in the past 25 to 30 years. After the Indian Gambling Regulation Act of 1988, tribal casinos expanded to 28 states. California and Oklahoma are two US states with huge tribal gaming industries, but dozens of others exist. The expansion of tribal gaming caused US states to liberalize their commercial casino industries, so states like Illinois, Ohio, Arizona, and Kansas expanded casinos greatly. Pennsylvania legalized casino betting at racetracks and now collects more gaming tax revenues than any states besides Nevada.

Lottery gambling has grown exponentially, too. The Powerball and Mega Millions have the biggest lottery jackpots in the world. State lotteries’ scratch-card tickets generate the most tax revenue. Meanwhile, online and mobile casino gambling and poker betting has grown in popularity. While many Internet gaming sites are unregulated, legal online/mobile gambling exists in 4 states and is expected to be legalized in other US states in the coming years.

Utah and Hawaii are the only two US states which have a 100% ban on all forms of gambling. In Utah or Hawaii, you can’t visit a casino, buy a lottery ticket, make a sports bet, or even play in a bingo hall. All 48 other U.S. states have some form of legalized gambling. In the USA, many southern states restrict gambling significantly, because of the social conservative values in many states. Despite that general statement, all southern states can’t be pegged as anti-gambling.

Alabama bans gambling (even lotteries) in anything but tribal casinos, while Mississippi has dozens of casinos on the Gulf Coast and Tunica County. South Carolina bans most forms of gambling, while Florida allows expanded gambling for the Seminole Tribe and even 8 counties throughout the state. Texas bans all but lottery betting and horse racing, while its neighbors, Oklahoma and Louisiana, allow casino betting; Texans flock to those casinos.

Types of Gambling

Readers might be wondering about the types of gambling that takes place inside the United States. Below is a glossary list of the betting opportunities Americans have, along with a quick description of each form of gambling. We provide revenue data for each type below.

  • Commercial Casinos: Owned by private companies and publicly-traded companies alike. Commercial casinos can be land-based casinos, riverboat casinos, airport casinos, racetrack-casinos (racinos), or casino cruises. Many have Class III or Las Vegs-style slot machines, while others use Class II Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) or Video Gambling Terminals (VGTs).
  • Tribal Casinos: Owned by Native American tribal gaming authorities and based on Indian reservation lands. A landmark 1986 US Supreme Court case (Cabazon v. California) stated Native American reservations are sovereign lands (and thus able to house casinos) if they were recognized by the US Department of the Interior’s Indian Affairs Bureau by 1934 or before. The Cabazon case led to the US Congress passing the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which says Indian tribes which reach a gaming compact with the states they are inside can have casino gambling with Class II slot machines. States can tax tribal casinos for the cost of regulation but can tax more, if the state gives special concessions like statewide monopolies on certain gaming types.
  • Card Rooms: Card rooms can exist inside or outside a land-based casino. Many Las Vegas Strip casinos and Atlantic City have their own poker rooms. In certain states, commercial card rooms or poker clubs exist. The Bicycle Club, Hollywood Park Casino, and Cameo Club in Los Angeles are a few examples of private card rooms. Tribal casinos like WinStar World Casino, Choctaw Casino, Mohegan Sun, and Foxwoods have poker rooms.
  • Charitable Games: Charitable gaming takes many forms. In most places, charitable gaming organizations host bingo nights, but other forms of gambling are allowed. Not-for-profit charitable gaming organizations sometimes host Las Vegas Nights (Millionaire Clubs), raffles, bell jar competitions, pickle card contests, and pull-tab contests. Pickle cards and pull-tab tickets are similar in many ways to a lottery scratch-card. Bell Jar gaming is a kind of raffle.
  • Bingo: Bingo is the most popular and widespread form of charitable gaming. Church groups, veterans’ groups, police and firefighter organizations, medical research groups, and civic organizations all host bingo nights. Organized bingo nights might be found in a dedicated bingo hall, a community center, or a VFW outpost; online bingo has become widely popular as well.
  • Lotteries: State lotteries have existed since the early days of the United States. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress funded the war partly with lottery betting. In the latter half of the 20th century, many US states enacted state lotteries to produce public school funding and scholarship funding. Since the 1980s, the multistate lottery associations, Powerball and Mega Millions, have grown to include 44 US states apiece. State lotteries also sell scratch-cards, the best revenue producer.
  • Sportsbooks: Legal sportsbooks are found in land-based casinos in Las Vegas. For the past 25 years, sports lotteries are legal in Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. After the US Supreme Court struck down the PASPA federal ban on sports betting in the 46 other US states, any US state can legalize sportsbooks. Delaware and New Jersey plan to open sportsbooks in the coming weeks, while 5 other US states have sportsbook legalization bills in committee. Lawmakers in 13 other US states are discussing the legalization of sports betting.
  • Horse Racing: Horse racing has been legal in many US states for generations because betting on horses is considered a less dangerous form of gambling — and one wealthier Americans enjoy. Horse racing, harness racing, and greyhound racing involve pari-mutuel wagering, in which one bettor’s win means other bettors lose. The horse bettor competes against other bettors and not the racebook, though the bookmaker sets the odds based on betting volume for each horse. Off-track betting facilities now exist, with simulcast horse races and betting on historical horse races. Because the horse betting industry has struggled, many states now allow slot machine gambling at horse tracks.
  • Online Casinos: Online casinos, poker sites, and sportsbooks were a huge industry in the USA until 2006 when the US Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The UIGEA banned all forms of Internet gambling which were banned for interstate telephone lines under the 1961 Wire Act. From 2007 to 2011, this meant casino sites, online cardrooms, and bookmaker sites. A 2011 US Department of Justice opinion reversed the DOJ’s stance on online casinos and poker sites, so four US states now have legal online casinos and poker sites: New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. New York, California, and others might follow suit eventually. It is estimated that between 65% to 85% of casino revenue in the US comes from real money slots.
  • Smartphone Betting: In most parts of the United States, mobile casino and poker sites are banned or unregulated. Now that sportsbooks are legal, live/in-play smartphone betting apps could become legal. Tom King of the Readyfire smartphone trivia apps says legal US sports betting will transform Android and iOS gaming apps in America.

Other Types of Wagering: Other forms of gambling takes place in the United States. 50 million Americans bet on Super Bowl office pools and March Madness brackets each year. Though it’s illegal, so many people engage in office betting that authorities look the other way in most cases. Fantasy football and fantasy baseball leagues involve small season-long wagers. In over a dozen US states, fantasy sports have been legalized, but in many other states, fantasy sports betting is allowed to happen. Some argue that daily fantasy sports gaming sites like FanDuel and DraftKings are sports wagering, but they exist in a gray area. Over a dozen US states have legalized DFS sites. Jai Alai is a legal form of sports betting in Connecticut and Florida.

The Pennsylvania gambling expansion law passed largely because the state desperately needed a new source of tax revenue. One of the biggest sources of that revenue was upfront licensing fees for all the new types of gambling.

Even with the potential for big returns, the first state budget after expansion only expected $100 million from online gambling. That is a figure Pennsylvania surpassed after the first mini-casino auction.

Gambling streams are now blossoming in the Commonwealth, bringing in significant revenue for the state and local entities. How much so far?

Last updated: Nov. 20, 2020

How does that number break down? Let’s look at how much each category brought in:

Licensing Fees
Mini-casinos
Lottery expansion
Taxes on revenue

Sports betting revenue starts rolling in

Sports betting in PA started out with retail only. Since the addition of online sportsbooks, revenue has soared. The majority of sports wagering in PA now happens online, and the state broke handle records every month during the 2019/2020 NFL season.

Consequently, the state’s tax revenue has experienced large gains since online betting was added to the mix.

Here is a look at the tax revenue (state and local) from sports betting so far:

October 2020: $13,239,693
September 2020: $2,257,158
August 2020: $6,578,667
July 2020: $2,933,093
June 2020: $2,397,657
May 2020: $1,738,436
April 2020: $1,038,049
March 2020: $2,480,132
February 2020: $1,700,011
January 2020: $8,222,829
December 2019: $4,094,893
November 2019: $5,299,449
October 2019: $5,381,370
September 2019: $5,062,216
August 2019: $2,201,406
July 2019: $1,026,769
June 2019: $979,302
May 2019: $1,030,267
April 2019: $1,519,733
March 2019: $1,986,962
February 2019: $700,853.95
January 2019: $938,597.00
December 2018: $722,356.00
November 2018: $183,238.77

Total sports betting tax revenue earned to date: $73,772,365

Online casino taxes now a PA revenue stream

With the launch of online casino sites, the state got another tax revenue stream. In 2020, online casino proved a vital revenue source for PA with land-based casinos and major sports affected by pandemic precautions and closures. With online slots raking 54% in taxes on revenue, that means the state gets even more than the site when it comes to profit.

Table games provide a good chunk as well, with a 16% taxation rate (same as online poker).

Here is a look at slot and table games breakdown by month:

October 2020
Slot tax: $21,788,756
Table games tax: $2,718,140
Total online casino tax: $24,506,896

September 2020
Slot tax: $21,565,077
Table games tax: $2,356,890
Total online casino tax: $23,921,967

August 2020
Slot tax: $21,400,525
Table games tax: $2,173,236
Total online casino tax: $23,573,761

July 2020
Slot tax: $21,300,706
Table games tax: $1,907,184
Total online casino tax: $23,207,890

June 2020
Slot tax: $19,858,788
Table games tax: $1,606,208
Total online casino tax: $21,464,996

May 2020
Slot tax: $21,259,600
Table games tax: $1,987,122
Total online casino tax: $23,246,722

April 2020
Slot tax: $14,755,476
Table games tax: $1,678,339
Total online casino tax: $16,433,816

March 2020
Slot tax: $6,669,348
Table games tax: $1,405,145
Total online casino tax: $8,074,493

February 2020
Slot tax: $5,202,349
Table games tax: $1,284,237
Total online casino tax: $6,486,586

January 2020
Slot tax: $3,883,784
Table games tax: $737,293
Total online casino tax: $4,621,067

December 2019
Slot tax: $3,008,116
Table games tax: $412,956
Total online casino tax: $3,421,072

November 2019
Slot tax: $2,750,645
Table games tax: $415,445
Total online casino tax: $3,166,090

October 2019
Slot tax: $2,147,692
Table games tax: $154,517
Total online casino tax: $2,302,209

September 2019
Slot tax: $1,746,962
Table games tax:$144,039
Total online casino tax: $1,891,001

August 2019
Slot tax: $1,643,397
Table games tax: $191,601
Total online casino tax: $1,835,058

July 2019
Slot tax: $279,564
Table games tax: $47,135
Total online casino tax: $326,700

Total online casino tax revenue earned to date: $188,487,899
Revenue

Online poker joins online slots and table games

Mount Airy launched the first online poker room with PokerStars PA going live Nov. 5, 2019. So far, it is the only operator live in the state, though more operators are expected to join the market in the coming months.

Here is a look at revenue and tax revenue by month for online poker in PA, plus total tax revenue to date.

October 2020
Online poker revenue: $2,422,505
Online poker tax: $387,601

September 2020
Online poker revenue: $2,376,045
Online poker tax: $380,167

August 2020
Online poker revenue: $2,729,199
Online poker tax: $436,672

July 2020
Online poker revenue: $2,986,498
Online poker tax: $477,840

June 2020
Online poker revenue: $3,240,917
Online poker tax: $509,590

May 2020
Online poker revenue: $4,596,418
Online poker tax: $729,851

April 2020
Online poker revenue: $5,253,304
Online poker tax: $837,550

Pa Casino Revenue Reports

March 2020
Online poker revenue: $3,133,019
Online poker tax: $500,384

February 2020
Online poker revenue: $1,830,356
Online poker tax: $290,752

January 2020
Online poker revenue: $2,157,266
Online poker tax: $345,162

December 2019
Online poker revenue: $2,473,137
Online poker tax: $395,702

November 2019
Online poker revenue: $1,965,494
Online poker tax: $314,479

Where Does Pa Gambling Revenue Go

Total online poker tax revenue earned to date: $5,605,751

Mini-casino auction profits

Parent CasinoBid AmountLocationAdditional table games license?
Hollywood Casino$50,100,000Yoe in York CountyN/A
Stadium Casino LLC$40,100,005Derry in Westmoreland CountyYes
Mount Airy Casino $21,888,888.88New Castle in Lawrence CountyN/A
Parx Casino$8,111,000South Newton in Cumberland CountyN/A
Hollywood Casino $7,500,003West Cocalico Township in Lancaster CountyN/A

Pa Gambling Revenue

Total mini-casino auction profit to date: $123,783,331

VGT tax revenue

October 2020: $1,256,413
September 2020: $1,239,548
August 2020: $895,509
July 2020: $1,075,974
June 2020: $560,261
May 2020: $0
April 2020: $0
March 2020: $485,682
February 2020: $697,806
January 2020: $579,914
December 2019: $457,159
November 2019: $342,830
October 2019: $242,522
August/September 2019: $168,849

Lottery expansion nears $45 million in revenue in first year-plus

PA Lottery was part of the gambling expansion bill as well. The laws allowed for the introduction of three new elements of lottery offerings. Those are:

  • Virtual sports

Keno rolled out May 1, 2018, followed by online lottery games on May 22, 2018. Xpress Sports, the virtual sports element, went live in August.

Based on numbers provided by the PA Lottery in its annual fiscal reports, profits from each of the following game types from launch through July 2019 were as follows:

Online lottery: $32.96 million
Keno and virtuals: $11.62 million

Draw tickets such as Mega Millions and Powerball are now available for purchase online through the iLottery too, as of January 2020. In May, 2020 the PA lottery reported that online sales had crossed $1 billion since launching less than two years prior. Exact revenue figures for the fiscal year are forthcoming.

Daily fantasy sports revenue

While daily fantasy sports (DFS) was not explicitly illegal in Pennsylvania, the 2017 gambling expansion regulated the industry. With that regulation comes taxation and licensing fees.

Ten fantasy sports operators needed to each pay a $50,000 licensing fee. Their revenue is taxed at a rate of 15 percent. Here is a look at each month’s tax revenue from DFS as well as the total amount of tax revenue to date:

  • October 2020: $480,451
  • September 2020: $485,124
  • August 2020: $320,174
  • July 2020: $138,861
  • June 2020: $97,087
  • May 2020: $47,826
  • April 2020: $25,088
  • March 2020: $108,591
  • February 2020: $255,366
  • January 2020: $309,716
  • December 2019: $515,343
  • November 2019: $447,174
  • October 2019: $489,654
  • September 2019: $439,357
  • August 2019: $208,295
  • July 2019: $186,730
  • June 2019: $238,847
  • May 2019: $270,458
  • April 2019: $277,883
  • March 2019: $245,226.70
  • February 2019: $244,376.75
  • January 2019: $317,475
  • December 2018: $429,075.51
  • November 2018: $486,174.15
  • October 2018: $435,429.45
  • September 2018: $320,057.10
  • August 2018: $141,543.03
  • July 2018: $131,727.75
  • June 2018: $152,679.34
  • May 2018: $199,755.94

Lady Luck Nemacolin lone sports betting holdout

Pennsylvania Gaming

In August 2018 Pennsylvania finally got its first official sports betting applicant. Penn Nationalfiled its petition, breaking the weeks of inactivity that had many worrying that nobody would bite.

A total of 12 of the 13 eligible casinos submitted applications for the $10 million license. The lone holdout is Lady Luck Nemacolin.

There are currently 12 retail sportsbooks spread across the state (with Oaks now permanently closed), and double-digit online sports betting apps.

Interactive gaming petitions generate $94 million

The 90-day window for PA casinos to apply for $10 million comprehensive interactive gaming petitions opened in mid-May, 2019. For the first 85 days, there was no news — a panic set in that there might be few or no applicants.

In the end, though, a majority of the 13 casinos ponied up the fee, which allows them to offer online peer-to-peer games like poker, online slots, and online table games. The seven casinos who filed for petitions and received approval are:

Once the all-in-one license application period ended, PA casinos could still purchase a la ca carte licenses for each of the three categories. Presque Isle Downs owner Churchill Downs spent $8 million applying for online poker and online slots. In an unusual move, Mohegan Sun Pocono paid a $2 million premium to apply for all three licenses for $12 million.

Rivers Pittsburgh surprisingly rescinded its interactive application. Rush Street Gaming owns both Rivers casinos (and the SugarHouse brand), so the Rivers Philadelphia license supports online casino products for both venues. That opens up three more licenses, bringing the total to 10.

Stadium Casino rescinded its peer-to-peer application but retained its online slots and table games licenses so that it would pay $8 million in licensing fees.

Mohegan Sun Pocono informed PGCB that it would not seek to offer online poker either, so it too had to pay $8 million.

The Meadows and Lady Luck Nemacolin opted not to apply for any interactive gaming licenses. The Meadows is owned by Penn National, who already applied for a comprehensive license. Lady Luck Nemacolin is managed by Churchill Downs now, and defers to Presque Isle on the online gaming front.

Where does that leave these leftover licenses? The next step was to open up the applications to entities outside of Pennsylvania. The two applicants in that category were MGM Resorts and Golden Nugget Atlantic City. MGM is approved to offer casino, sports betting, and online poker – which will be under the partypoker brand. Golden Nugget only applied for online casino and sports betting.

Law generates $51 million for PA in a matter of hours

In 2017, the state received two payments in the days immediately following the passage of the law. One was a $1 million payment from Valley Forge Casino to remove the amenity fee requirement on the Category 3 property. The other was a $50 million payment by Stadium Casino LLC for its Category 2 casino license. The group is in the process of building a casino in the Stadium Park area of Philadelphia.

Pa Gambling Revenue

In June of 2018, the Stadium Casino project paid the state an additional $24,750,000 for the right to offer table games at the property when it opens, bringing the total licensing brought in from the group to $74.75 million.

Other sources of revenue from the law include:

On Oct. 31, Valley Forge also took advantage of another change in the law. For $2.5 million, the resort casinos could up the number of slot machines on property. After a year of gaming revenue growth, the casino decided it was time to expand.

After nearly a year and a half of the law being in effect, Lady Luck Nemacolin elected to pay the $1 million to eliminate its $10 Category 3 amenity fee, leaving the state with no more casinos charging for entry.