Pennsylvania sports betting took a step back in May, as handle fell around 7% month-on-month to $447 million.
PA sportsbooks, however, made those bets count, with revenue ticking up around 4% month-on-month to $37 million.
The revenue gain was driven by a healthy 8.4% hold rate for the month, per the state report released Thursday.
State wins from Pennsylvania sportsbooks
The state cleared around $10 million in taxes, while PA bettors enjoyed nearly the same amount in bonuses from the sportsbooks.
The dropoff in handle for May is no surprise given the sporting calendar. Seven other states have reported sports betting figures for May, with four seeing handle tick up and three seeing handle decline.
Who led Pennsylvania sportsbooks?
On an operator level, FanDuel stretched its lead slightly at the top of the market, growing handle share from a notch to 36%.
It did even better when measured by revenue share, which clocked in at 48% of all PA sports betting revenue. That was bolstered by an 11% hold rate. FanDuel also made market share gains in NJ in May.
DraftKings was second in PA handle with a 23% share. That was also up a tick from 22% in April.
Barstool share on the wane
Barstool Sportsbook was a distant third with a 10% share of handle. However, it still gave out the same amount of bonuses as DraftKings ($1.2 million) despite that lower share.
Barstool was also the largest faller by handle, dropping 23% month-on-month. However, a better hold rate meant revenue actually ticked up 5% versus April.
The Penn National-owned sportsbook saw a similar decline in Michigan last month.
Best of the rest in PA sports betting
BetMGM came in fourth place with a 7% share of handle, although it did give out $1.9 million in promos as it tried to build share as a relative newcomer.
BetRivers rounded out the top five with a 5.5% share, just ahead of sister brand SugarHouse at 4.2%.
Other operators and their share of handle:
- Parx: 3.9%
- Fox Bet: 3.3%
- Unibet: 1.5%
- Caesars: 1.4%
- TwinSpires: 1.2%
Under the radar
Among those firms, Caesars was notable for its lack of promo spending.
The operator spent just $4,500 on bonuses, less than all major rivals.
