Pennsylvania gaming revenues down 2.7% in Nov. despite gains in sports betting and igaming

The decrease occurred despite substantial gains in two sectors, igaming and sports wagering, which both reached record monthly highs.
Total revenue for igaming was $59.8 million, a 519.0% increase from more than $9.6 million wagered in November 2019. The previous record high was $59.7 in October.

Rivers Casino Philadelphia, which closed November 18 due to a rise in COVID-19 in Southeastern Pennsylvania, still led all casinos with $16.8 million in igaming revenue.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered Pennsylvania’s casinos statewide to close last Saturday due to the pandemic. The shutdown will last through Jan. 4. However, online sports wagering and igaming will still be available.
The total handle for sports wagering was $491.9 million, a decline of 6.45% from $525.8 million generated in October. But taxable revenue in November 2020 was $37.3 million, 1.56% higher than October’s taxable revenue of $36.8 million, the previous high total for a month.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli told investors in a research note that FanDuel and DraftKings continued to maintain the dominant market share positions for sports betting in the state, accounting for a combined 67% of the total mobile sports wagering handle during the month.
Santarelli said the Barstool Sports wagering app, which is operated in partnership with Penn National Gaming, had 10.1% of the total market share, which represented a 10.8% of mobile sports betting revenue.
Dustin Gouker, who studies sports betting in the state for PlayPennsylvania, said the lack of NBA and NHL games compared to a year ago hurt the market’s sportsbooks.

“The struggles of Penn State, an Eagles bye week, and a Steelers game postponed to December, (also) conspired to slow bettors in November,” Gouker said.

Boyd Gaming’s Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, whose sportsbook is operated by FanDuel, had the highest sports wagering total handle, $180 million, and $15.4 million in total revenue. Meadows Casino near Pittsburgh ranked second with a total handle of $112.5 million and $7.1 million in total revenue.

Parx Casino in Philadelphia led all Pennsylvania casinos with $50.2 million in total revenue, a 7.49% decrease from October 2019. The biggest percentage increase occurred at Valley Forge Casino, with November’s $33.6 million in total revenue a 93.38% increase from November 2019’s $17.4 million.

Total revenue from fantasy contests was $3.02 million, a slight increase of 1.14 percent from $2.98 million generated in November 2019. Revenue from igaming poker rose 22.58%, from $1.96 million in November 2019 to $2.40 million in November 2020. And video gaming terminals brought in $2.26 million in revenue up 242.7% from the $659,288 accumulated in November 2019.

Other notable developments:
Live Casino Pittsburgh, which opened Nov. 14 in Hempfield, Westmoreland County, brought in $2.26 million in total revenue over its first 17 days.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National in Grantville, Dauphin Country, brought in $33.6 million, up 59.4% from $21 million a year ago.

Total slots revenue fell to $129.5 million, down 31.59% from $189.3 million in November 2019. Parx Casino had the highest total slots revenue, $27.6 million, a 20.6% drop from the $34.7 generated in November 2019.

Retail table games revenues of $52.3 million were down almost 30% from $74.7 million a year ago.