The reports are in for the month of June when it comes to sports betting in Pennsylvania. The month saw the state launch online wagering options and players took to it straight away. Both websites and applications were used to place sports wagers and if the state is anything like neighboring New Jersey, the majority of players will want to go online to place their bets.
Let’s Go Online!
For June, SugarHouse Sportsbook was the only offering to be open all month online. BetRivers and Parx launched their sportsbook with about a week left in the month. Online sports betting was a huge hit among players and helped the state see their best month yet by way of betting handle. The handle is the amount of wagers placed by players.
So far, the best handle had been $44.5 million, a record set in March. In June, the state brought in a whopping $46.3 million in bets. Interestingly enough, the month is actually a slow one for sports betting. March is good due to March Madness and going into the summer months, betting is usually pretty slow.
Of that amount, the sportsbook operators were able to generate $3.1 million in revenues. This is a solid amount considering the state has only offered sports betting for a short period of time.
Online Desire
It appears the desire to go online is strong in Pennsylvania. Of the amount bet in June, around $27 million was generated from the land-based sportsbooks in the state. With online in play, a whopping $19.3 million was wagered. This is a huge amount, and close to the land-based totals, which is crazy considering how many retail spots there are and very few online venues.
SugarHouse takes the cake when it comes to being popular in the state for sports betting services. The company produced half of the money wagered in the state, at just over $23 million. The majority of those wagers, $18.2 million, were produced from online gaming. Once SugarHouse launched online services in late May, players flocked to the site to get in on the action.
The revenue reports are only going to get larger in the state now that Parx and BetRivers will be live for a full month. By August, we will have a look at the July totals, which should give us an idea as to how the state is faring with at least three fully functioning online sportsbooks.
By the end of the year, the sports betting industry will be better established in Pennsylvania. Football season will be almost over and we will see just how popular betting is in the state, and if the online format continues to reign supreme.
It will be interesting to see if the state can quickly build an industry that will rival New jersey and if they possibly can surpass the state in what they have to offer by way of sports betting.
