Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Reports $30.7 Million In Wagers Placed On Super Bowl

HARRISBURG, PA:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today reported that preliminary figures show $30.7 million was wagered in the Commonwealth on this past weekend’s Super Bowl through retail and online sportsbooks and payouts of just over $34 million. This resulted in a loss of revenue to operators of over $3.3 million.

This was the second year in which legal sports wagering was available in Pennsylvania for the Super Bowl, but the first in which online wagering options were available. Last year, the sports wagering market consisted of only six retail outlets. This year, patrons could choose to place Super Bowl wagers at a dozen retail locations and through eight online wagering sites.

The Board broke out the handle and revenue as follows:

The Board also reported that almost 200,000 persons logged onto online sports wagering sites in Pennsylvania based on data it obtained of the number of unique users on the websites. This is in addition to patrons who were visiting and wagering at the retail locations. Figures from previous NFL Sundays show the number of unique visitors on the Pennsylvania sports wagering websites was closer to 100,000.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of gambling legalized under 2004’s Race Horse Development and Gaming Act and the Gaming Expansion Act of 2017. In addition to slot machine and table games gambling at land-based casinos, the expansion includes online casino games available to date on seven sites; sports wagering offered through sportsbooks at 12 locations and through eight online outlets; video gaming terminals (VGTs) offered as of this date at 21 qualified truck stops; and, fantasy sports contests through eight providers.

The mature land-based casino industry in Pennsylvania currently consists of 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos in operation, along with the two smaller resort casinos.  These facilities collectively employ over 16,000 people and annually generate over $1.4 billion in tax revenue from slot machine and table games play. Construction of a 13^th casino is currently underway along with a number of new “mini-casinos” that are expected to begin operation over the next couple of years.

Additional information about both the PGCB’s gaming regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov  . You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.