Pennsylvania Casino Revenue Increases In August

Another good month for casino revenue in PA, but sports betting saw another dip

Casinos in Pennsylvania hit record revenue numbers for August, as the gambling industry keeps expanding in the Keystone state.

The 16 casinos in PA reported a total of $408.1 million in revenue, which is 31% more compared to the same period last year (August 2020 revenue was $310.7 million). Moreover, this was a 39% increase compared to August 2019, which was a pre-pandemic period when all casinos operated fully. July 2021 was also a record month for PA casinos, as they earned a total of $423.6 million.

Casino Revenue Changes

Online casino gaming’s revenue also increased. iGaming platforms recorded an increase of 59% in August 2021, earning a total of $88.7 million during that period. In other words, 22% of the total revenue from gaming last month came from Internet gambling. 

The leading land-based state casino is Hollywood Casino at Penn National, which posted a total of $30.5 million in August gambling revenue. Its closest competitor is Rivers Casino Philadelphia, with $27.1 million earned in August. Both casinos feature online gambling sites that can be accessed via web browsers or dedicated mobile apps.

Another casino that reported pretty decent numbers was Live! Casino Philadelphia, which is also one of the youngest gambling properties in PA, having opened in February 2021. It added a total of $21.3 million to the total August gaming revenue in the state.

However, looking beyond state casinos, the overall leader in PA is Bensalem’s Parx Casino, which posted a total of $59.2 million in gaming revenue for August. This was no improvement compared to last August, meaning it made similar revenue to a year ago. Hollywood Casino, on the other hand, reported an increase of 74.3%, earning a total of $49.8 million, as opposed to $28.6 million from August 2020.

The only casino to post a decline in revenue for August 2021 was Harrah’s Philadephia in Chester. The recorded drop was 6.6% year-on-year. The casino earned $19.1 million this year, as opposed to $20.4 million last year. One of the reasons for that is the removal of 563 slot machines, which is also the section where Harrah’s recorded the highest decline. 

In other words, the casino’s slots revenue declined by $1.49 million, which is a 10.8% decline compared to a year ago. Overall, slot machine revenue in PA increased by 25.6%, with slots earning $209.8 million in August 2021. Table games revenue increased by 32.5% to $86.3 million.

Sports Wagering Declines

Even though sports wagering and daily fantasy contests are undergoing a huge expansion in Pennsylvania (and the rest of the US), these two verticals actually recorded a decline in August. Fantasy contests, which are offered by Yahoo Fantasy Sports, DraftKings, and FanDuel, earned $1.6 million in August, which is 25% less compared to August 2020. Moreover, sports wagering saw a decline of 1.5%, having earned a total of $18 million in August 2021.

This decline is mainly due the schedule for professional sports leagues was somewhere different last year due to covid restrictions.

However it further shows the consistent performance of the online casino vertical in the US.