Pennsylvania posts $283.7m in gambling revenue for October

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board this week released statistics on the total revenue generated from gaming and fantasy contests in the month of October. The statistics show that the gaming industry is thriving in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with a state-wide total of $283,706,124 in revenue. The state generated $116,439,514 in tax revenue from this total revenue in October.

SEE ALSO: ONLINE GAMBLING IN PENNSYLVANIA

These numbers show some steady growth from last October. In October of 2018, Pennsylvania’s total revenue generated was $255,692,737, and the state’s tax revenue generated was $108,247,099. The commonwealth has seen a 10.96% increase in total revenue and a 7.57% increase in tax revenue earnings.

Pennsylvania gaming revenue by type

Slot machine play was responsible for a whopping $186,921,921 (65.89%) of Pennsylvania’s total gaming revenue this October. This number is virtually identical to the revenue that slots pulled in last October at $186,255,556. Parx Casino is the big winner in this category with $34,520,366 generated from slot machines.

There were an average of 1,301 tables in daily operation for table games across 12 casinos last month. These table games generated a total of $73,162,270 in revenue for the commonwealth. While slot play didn’t see much of a change from 2018, table games got a nice bump of 9.96% over last year’s October earnings of $66,534,318.

Some $241,186,066 were wagered on sporting events in October, generating a total revenue of $14,948,249. Internet wagering is far more popular in sports than it is for table games and slot play in Pennsylvania. Online slots generated $3,977,208 and internet table games generated $965,726; modest figures compared to their retail counterparts. But when it comes to sports betting, $10,307,158 (69%) of the state’s $14,948,249 revenue was generated online compared to just $4,641,091 at physical locations.

Rounding out the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s report, fantasy sports contests generated $3,264,361 in October and video gaming terminals generated a profit of $466,389 state-wide.

Pennsylvania sports betting vs fantasy sports

Sports betting saw a nice uptick in action from September to October, likely due to the return of the NBA and NHL. A total of $194,504,622 was wagered in September of 2019, so October’s total handle of $241,186,066 was a 24% month-over-month increase. Sportsbooks fared about the same across both months however, earning $14,888,872 in revenue in September and $14,948,249 in revenue in October.

The statistics don’t show us how much was wagered on fantasy sports contests, only what the final revenue generated was. The vast majority (97.2%) of fantasy sports revenue was generated from the two titans of the industry, DraftKings at $1,769,444 and FanDuel at $1,403,161. With a total revenue generated of $3,264,361 this October and $2,902,863 generated last October, fantasy sports contests saw a nice 12.45% jump in revenue over the last 12 months.

When comparing their value to Pennsylvania, standard sports betting reigns supreme over fantasy sports betting. With $14,948,249 generated in total revenue and $5,381,370 generated in tax revenue for the state, sports betting earned 4.58 times more total revenue and 11 times more tax revenue in the commonwealth than fantasy sports betting did.