March is certainly a good month for casinos in Pennsylvania. This year and last year, the month proved to be huge months when it comes to revenue earnings. In 2018, the month marked the very first time that the state was able to surpass the $300m mark in table game and slot totals. This year, March was good to the state again, with the total earnings coming in at $309,125,131.
Sports Betting Helps
Pennsylvania has offered slots and table games for some time, but sports betting is new to the state. It is also helping to bring in additional revenues. Right now, the state is providing eight retail sportsbooks. Online wagering is not an option as of yet. Despite the lack of locations and no online options, revenues for March by way of sports betting were just over $5.5m. A total of $44m was spent by gamblers at the sportsbook on wagers.
With sports betting onsite, players have access to even more gaming options. A new demographic of players are brought to the casinos with the addition of sports betting. After placing sports wagers, players then hit the table games or slots.
According to the Gaming Control Board, total gaming revenues came in at $314,644,471, which includes sports wagers, table games and slots. For slot machine revenues, the state saw a 2.37% increase with $226,597,681.24 in earnings.
For table games, March revenues were up 4.25% to $82,527,450 in earnings. And of course, as mentioned, sports betting earnings came in at $5,519,340.
Over the past year, slots have continued to do well in Pennsylvania. Over a twelve month time frame, slots have seen an increase each month except for two. Players continue to play the games and enjoy the gaming options that Pennsylvania has to offer.
Individual Casino Earnings
The top earner for March was Parx Casino who earned just over $56m, with a 3.96% increase. The casino that saw the highest percentage increase was the Valley Forge. The casino was up 13.64%, with $13,154,276 in earnings. Sands Bethlehem also saw a nice increase, with $50,935,397 earned for the month, a 8.90% improvement.
The negative, Lady Luck saw the largest percentage drop. The casino was down 14.90% with only $2,754,516 in monthly earnings. The Mohegan Sun also saw a significant drop of 5.43%. The casino earned $21,514,508 in March.
Online Gaming Coming
Pennsylvania will soon see even more money coming in thanks to the launch of online gambling. Regulators announced that online gambling should be coming soon, both sports betting and online casino/poker games.
The state plans on launching sports betting hopefully by May, as operators are currently preparing to launch services. Online casino and poker games should be live by July. A letter was sent to operators by the Gaming Control Board that alerted them of a coordinated effort to launch iGaming the week of July 15th.
Operators are encouraged to use the next few months to prepare for online gaming services. License holders need to ensure that their partners are ready to offer services and have been approved by regulators.
By the fall season, Pennsylvania should have a fully functioning online gaming industry on top of their already successful land-based gaming options. Millions more will be generated, helping the state to have even more much needed funds to use as lawmakers see fit.
It will be interesting to see how the online industry fares once launched and if they will give neighboring New Jersey a run for their money for the top spot of gaming operator!
