Pennsylvania’s regulated online gambling industry has broken all previous revenue records. The boost in sports betting revenue is because of the action-packed NFL season, during which Pennsylvania-licensed sportsbooks received bets worth $800 million throughout January 2022.
Perhaps the biggest revelation was the fact that Pennsylvania’s online casinos triumphed over record breaking revenues of $130m. This is great news for players, because it can only mean more investment in higher caliber games which will almost certainly be complemented by a variety of exclusive offers, thus providing an even more memorable gaming experience. As time goes by, it is becoming increasingly evident that restrictions for online gambling across the US are becoming more lenient, allowing both punters and providers to benefit from this immensely lucrative industry.
Record-breaking Casino Revenue
Pennsylvania regulators state that online casinos broke year-over-year records in 2021 by generating combined revenues of $4.7 billion. Last year, casinos generated $2 billion more than they did in 2020.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said that online casinos collected $2.6 billion from online sports betting, iGaming, table games, slots, video gaming terminals, fantasy contests, and much more.
Online casino gaming and online sports betting became popular in Pennsylvania because of social distancing orders and lockdown measures implemented during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021, slot machines contributed $2.2 billion, table games contributed $924.9 million, online gambling contributed $1.1 billion, online sports betting contributed $340.1 million, fantasy sports contests contributed $29.2 million, and video gaming terminals contributed $39.8 million to the total gambling revenue.
Officials say that the boost in online casino gaming revenue gave the state $1.93 billion in tax revenue.
Increase in Sportsbook Revenues
PlayPennsylvania displays data showing that sportsbooks experienced a 29% growth from January 2021 and generated revenue of $178.4 million in January 2022. It notes that the handle rose from $750.4 million in December (5.8%), beating the previous record of $776.3 million wagered in sportsbooks in October 2021.
In January 2022, gross sportsbook revenue increased by 8.3% compared to the same in January 2021, surging upward from 17.9% in December. Gross sportsbook winnings touched the $53.4 million mark last month.
Although the online sports betting industry spent $21.2 million in promotions, it could close the month with taxable revenue of $32.2 million and pay a tax of $11.6 million to the state.
Katie Kohler, an analyst at PlayPennsylvania, says that NFL games are valuable to the industry and notes that the league presented games that kept viewers betting from the beginning to the end.
The online sports betting sector contributed 92.9% of the sportsbook market revenue in the state. The industry leader is FanDuel, which contributed 34.8% of the revenue. Its competitor DraftKings accepted bets worth $197.4 million and generated gross revenue of $8.4 million.
Online poker rooms and online casinos also reported gross revenue of $130 million, a 42.5% increase from January 2021. Online casinos generated $108.3 million in taxable revenue, breaking all previous revenue records in Pennsylvania.
Side Effect of Online Gambling in PA
Problem gambling is a side effect of the online gambling boom in Pennsylvania. Now that residents are gambling more at online sportsbooks and online casinos, officials encourage players in trouble to get help.
PA Council on Compulsive Gambling Executive Director Josh Ercole said that text messages and telephone calls for help nearly doubled in 2021 compared to 2019 and 2020. Claire Yantis, a member of the PA Gaming Control Board (PGCB), said that 2% to 4% of the gamblers in Pennsylvania are likely to develop a gambling-related disorder in their lives.
Yantis says that operators of online gambling sites licensed in Pennsylvania have to offer responsible gambling tools like bet limits, deposit limits, time limits, wagering limits, and so on to help customers control their gambling habits. In January 2022, over 80,000 online gamblers used at least one of these tools.
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