Pennsylvania sportsbooks passed a key milestone in March when they topped $1 billion in gross revenue since launch in November 2018.
Gross sports betting revenue hit $1.014 billion with the March report, which Pennsylvania regulators released Monday. That does not tell the whole story for Pennsylvania, though, since promotional deductions are allowed for online PA sports betting.
Those deductions drop taxable sports betting revenue to $678.6 million. Since launch, PA sports betting has generated $241.9 million in local and state tax dollars.
Pennsylvania sportsbooks rebound after tough month
March was a return to the black for operators in Pennsylvania. Taxable sports betting revenue was $30.4 million, up from a loss of $442,847 in February.
Sportsbooks promoted themselves into the red in February with companies fighting for new customers looking to place Super Bowl bets. Operators deducted $22.6 million in promos for February compared to $18.1 million in March.
March handle hit $715 million, up 19.7% from February and 27.6% from last March. The deep run to the Final Four by Villanova and the unlikely run to the Elite Eight by St. Peter’s (which cannot be bet on in its home state of New Jersey) helped boost that total.
Pennsylvania will likely see some outsized impact from March Madness betting on the April report compared to other states since Villanova’s Final Four loss came on April 2.
Bulk of online handle belongs to five operators
Pennsylvania could have shaved a few months or more off its timeline to $1 billion revenue had it launched with mobile, but the first mobile operator did not launch until May 2019.
The state typically boasts one of the biggest mobile shares in US sports betting and March was no different with 93.3% of handle coming from online.
More than $9 out of every $10 bet in the state flows through six sportsbooks from five operators:
| Handle | Revenue | Promos | Handle share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $267,064,436 | $21,876,763 | $6,648,047 | 40.0% |
| DraftKings | $164,777,612 | $6,677,395 | $2,429,393 | 24.7% |
| BetMGM | $78,405,972 | $5,199,757 | $4,901,609 | 11.8% |
| Barstool | $55,292,889 | $2,751,480 | $1,027,717 | 8.3% |
| BetRivers | $27,005,616 | $1,821,592 | $743,436 | 4.0% |
| SugarHouse | $18,017,534 | $843,550 | $157,963 | 2.7% |
| Parx | $14,897,055 | $1,471,738 | $385,359 | 2.2% |
| PointsBet | $14,464,807 | $1,259,185 | $1,243,775 | 2.2% |
| Fox Bet | $11,045,918 | $868,222 | $287,568 | 1.7% |
| Betway | $2,702,475 | $38,016 | $0 | 0.4% |
| Unibet | $6,275,705 | $404,279 | $254,105 | 0.9% |
| Caesars | $3,425,796 | $19,912 | $680 | 0.5% |
| Twin Spires | $2,823,705 | $260,693 | $26,182 | 0.4% |
| Wind Creek | $782,410 | $51,313 | $5,849 | 0.1% |
| Total | $666,981,930 | $43,543,895 | $18,111,683 | 100.0% |
*BetRivers and SugarHouse operated by Rush Street Interactive
Multiple Pennsylvania sportsbooks fighting for more
Even though Pennsylvania is one of the more mature US betting markets, there is still an ongoing fight for online market share.
BetMGM had the second-most promo deductions with $4.9 million for the month. That only trailed handle leader FanDuel and was ahead of DraftKings, ranked second for handle share.
PointsBet is also fighting for position in the market after launching in February with $1.2 million in promos deducted. That was good for 6.9% of all promos deducted in the month, compared to its handle share of 2.2%.
