Internet Gaming Segment Sees Significant Growth In April

According to the PA Gaming Control Board

HARRISBURG, PA:  With land-based gaming options unavailable during the entire month of April, Pennsylvania operators saw a substantial increase in activity through online options for casino type games.

April 2020 revenue for online casino-type games which include slot machines, table games and poker jumped 73% over the previous month of March 2020. The biggest increase was within the slot machine segment in which revenue more than doubled going from $12,969,655 in March to $27,324,955 in April.

Other available games during the Coronavirus shutdown include online sports wagering and fantasy contests.

Closures of all Pennsylvania casinos and video gaming terminals in mid-March continued through all of April due to mandated restrictions to protect citizens from the Covid-19 virus.

Overall gaming revenue was down 84% in April of this year compared to April 2019.  Tax revenue from all forms of gaming in April 2020 was $18,334,503.

The Board has posted separate reports for these types of gaming on its website, https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/ .

Internet Casino-Type Gaming Revenue

Casino games offered online generated gross revenue of $43,067,881 during April. That figure is 73% higher than the previous month of March 2020 when revenue was $24,884,830.

A breakdown of revenue from sites offered online is as follows:

¹figures include only test days of April 29-30

Tax revenue generated from internet gaming play during April was $17,271,366*.

Sports Wagering Revenue

April 2020 total sports wagering revenue from 13 retail and 9 online outlets was $2,883,471, which was 58% lower than March 2020 total of $6,889,255.  The retail outlets were not operational during April but continued to make payouts on earlier determined wagers.

April sports wagering total handle and a breakout of revenue by casino is as follows:

¹Operated by Parx Casino

²Operated by Mohegan Sun Pocono

Tax revenue generated from sports wagering during April was $1,038,049*.

Fantasy Contests

Fantasy Contests revenue was $167,254 in April 2020, a decrease of 91% over April of last year when revenue was $1,852,552.

Fantasy Contests adjusted revenue in April of the past two years for each of the operators licensed in Pennsylvania in 2020 and 2019 are displayed in the following table:

¹no longer conducting business in PA

Tax revenue collected from the play of Fantasy Contests in April of this year was $25,088*.

Overall

The Board is providing a synopsis of revenue year-over-year by types of games:

*Tax revenue figures reflect amount generated prior to any adjustments by the PA Department of Revenue

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) 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, legal gaming regulated by the PGCB includes online casino games available to date on seven sites; sports wagering offered through sportsbooks at 13 retail locations and through nine online outlets; video gaming terminals (VGTs) at 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, along with other types of Board-regulated gaming, has annually generated over $1.5 billion in tax revenue.

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 .