Pennsylvania Gaming Revenue Clears $500 Million In February

Pennsylvania casinos may not be one in a billion but in a way, you could say they’re halfway there. Revenue from regulated gambling activity for February 2023 represented a significant improvement on the same month in 2022 and topped the half-billion dollar mark.

Pennsylvania brick-and-mortar casinos, their online counterparts, and sports betting brought in $501.8 million in revenue during the month. The performance keeps the state’s gambling industry on pace for what should be a record-breaking year.

Physical Pennsylvania casinos keep slot revenue steady

February saw physical casinos in Pennsylvania maintain their streak of winning at least $200 million from slot play alive. The numerous facilities across the state cleared $202.8 million off slots last month.

Combined with $74.5 million in February revenue from poker and table games, brick-and-mortar casinos in Pennsylvania nearly won $300 million from players during the month. They also won in terms of beating their previous performances.

In February 2022, the same properties collected $268.9 million in revenue, about 3.1% less than last month’s $277.3 million. That slight increase was a mirror image of the performance by online casinos in the state.

Online casinos keep streak alive

From October 2022 through January 2023, online casino apps in Pennsylvania reaped at least $160 million from players. The streak continued in February as online poker, slots, and table games pulled in more than $162.3 million.

That represents an uptick of about 1.3% from January 2023 online casino numbers. Compared to the same month last year, which brought in $123.6 million, the apps are up 23.9%. The number still falls short of December 2022’s record $166.9 million but keeps Pennsylvania firmly atop the national standings in terms of iGaming win.

Additionally, it further cements $160 million as what regulators can expect to be the new normal for a month of online casino activity. Sports betting revenue, on the other hand, tends to be more volatile from one month to the next.

Sports betting revenue up, wagers down in February

In February, Pennsylvanians wagered $599.5 million on sports bets and sportsbooks claimed $43.2 million in taxable revenue on that money. Before promotional and other deductions, however, sportsbooks won $62.2 million on those bets for a hold percentage of about 10.3%.

Undoubtedly, the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss in Super Bowl LVII played a part in sportsbooks doing so well during the month. However, bettors actually wagered more on sports in the month prior.

In January, sportsbooks handled 22.4% more money ($772.2 million) but kept almost half the amount they did in February. Sportsbooks also improved upon their win from February 2022 drastically. That month, they won $22.1 million but after deductions lost $442,847.20.

That enormous improvement helped push the state over half a billion in gaming revenue for the month. As a result, these gambling channels have nearly recorded a billion dollars in revenue through just the first two months of 2023. Even though the Eagles lost on Super Bowl Sunday, February activity for Pennsylvania casinos was still beyond super.