Pennsylvania’s betting market set a new sports betting handle record in October.
In October, Pennsylvania became the third US state to surpass $500m in sports betting handle in a single month.
According to the latest figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), bettors in the state wagered $525.8m in October, setting a new record for the Keystone State. October’s handle marks a 13.6% increase on the previous record of $462.8m in September.
Pennsylvania will now join New Jersey and Nevada, the only other states to surpass $500m in sports betting handle in a single month.
The Keystone State also hit a new revenue record in October, with sportsbooks in the state generating a combined $47.8m in revenue from sports betting operations.
When discounting the $11.1m wagered in promotional credits in October, taxable revenue is still higher than the previous revenue record of $31.6m from January 2020.
Sportsbook operators paid $13.2m in tax revenue to the state in October.
Barstool jumps into fourth place
The state’s newest online sportsbook, Barstool Sportsbook, hit the ground running after launching halfway through September.
According to the PGCB’s figures, the state’s newest sportsbook took $63.8m in sports bets in October with $61m coming from its app. This marked the operator’s first full month of operations in Pennsylvania.
Valley Forge Casino and its sports betting partner FanDuel Sportsbook continued to dominate the market after processing $184.9m in bets and generating $18.8m in revenue. The majority of handle came from online betting after bettors wagered $181m via the online sportsbook. Online betting also accounted for $17.9m of the operator’s revenue.
Meadows and its sportsbook partner DraftKings held onto second place in October after generating $9.2m in revenue from $123.4m in sports bets. Bettors wagered $121m via the DraftKings sports betting app, contributing $8.8m to the licensee’s total revenue.
Rush Street’s two licensees Rivers Philadelphia and Rivers Pittsburgh, which both host the BetRivers sportsbook combined for $68.6m in handle and $5.9m in betting revenue.
Promotional credits account for 26.6% of online revenue
Promotional credits continue to make up a significant portion of the state’s betting revenue. In total, the state’s sportsbooks issued $11.1m in promotional credits in October, representing 26.6% of the state’s total online revenue.
This marks a slight drop on promotional credits in September, which amounted to $12m or 91.3% of the state’s September’s revenue.
In October, five sportsbook operators gave out more than $1m in promotional credits. FanDuel gave out $3.1m and DraftKings gave out $2.3m. Barstool issued $1.8m in promotional bets, Unibet offered $1.8m and BetRivers issued $1m combined.
It’s worth mentioning that sportsbook operators can subtract promotional credit spending from total gambling revenue when working out how much they must pay the state in tax.
