Online betting propels Pennsylvania sportsbooks in June

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Pennsylvania’s sports betting industry got an expected boost in June from the first full month of online wagering, helping online and retail sportsbooks generate a record $46.3 million in bets during what is historically a slow month for sports betting. But with just one online sportsbook live all month and two more launching 27 June, online casino games launching this week, and significant obstacles yet to be ironed out for all of Pennsylvania’s online products, June offered just a window into what is possible for the state’s gambling industry, according to PlayPennsylvania.com analysts.

“The summer months are historically the slowest on the sports betting calendar, so a relatively strong showing is significant,” said Jessica Welman, sports betting analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “The rollout has been slow and with considerable hurdles, most notably the exclusion of online sportsbooks from iOS. Still, there is no question that the launch of online sports betting is a shot of momentum for the industry.”

In all, Pennsylvania’s retail and online sportsbooks were up from $35.9 million in May, according to official data released on Thursday. $19.3 million of those bets, about 42%, were made online.

SugarHouse Casino’s online product generated $18.2 million in bets in its first full month, and the online launch of Rivers Casino ($848,520) and Parx Casino ($307,011) on 27 June combined to bring in $288,883 per day.

Online bets represented 83% of New Jersey’s $273.2 million June handle, showing that much ground can still be made in Pennsylvania. To that end, FanDuel at Valley Forge Casino Resort, Harrah's Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, and Presque Isle Downs & Casino are working to launch online sportsbooks this summer. And developers are working to comply with Apple’s policy that requires the apps to be written in code native to the iOS system, which has made it difficult for Apple users to access the existing online sportsbooks.

“Hopefully by the beginning of football season, online sportsbooks will be a bit closer to maturity,” Welman said. “Summer months being typically slow, it is a good time for the industry to work out the kinks and SugarHouse just launched an iOS workaround. But sports betting revenue will be artificially depressed if the obstacles we’ve seen so far aren’t smoothed out by the end of summer.”

Combined, online and retail bets yielded $3.1 million in revenue in June, up from $2.8 million in revenue in May, resulting in $740,455 in tax revenue.

In June, SugarHouse Casino’s online launch helped propel it past Rivers Casino as the market leader for the first time. SugarHouse Casino took in $23.3 million in retail and online bets, up from $7.9 million in May, yielding $1.8 million in revenue, up from $711,845. Rivers, which still holds the retail market lead with $6.2 million in June bets, accepted $7.1 million in online and retail wagers, down from $7.9 million in May. It generated $328,431 in revenue, down from $641,029.

Rivers and SugarHouse were followed by:

- Parx Casino ($5.5 million handle, down from $6.8 million in June; $28,213 revenue, down from $639,922)

- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course ($2.4 million handle, down from $3.8 million; $83,520 revenue, down from $210,637)

- FanDuel at Valley Forge Casino Resort ($2.3 million handle, down from $2.7 million; $149,621 revenue, down from $240,766)

- Harrah’s Philadelphia ($2.3 million handle, down from $2.6 million; $135,421 revenue, down from $138,094)

- South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook ($2.5 million handle, down from $2.8 million; $161,001 revenue, down from $168,815)

- Oaks Race and Sportsbook ($4.7 million handle, up from $1.4 million; $76,594 revenue, up from $110,744)