Gaming Control Board Reports May Revenue

iGaming revenue reaches $100 million in a month for first time

HARRISBURG, PA:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board posted reports today on its website that show that the combined total revenue in May 2021 generated from all forms of gaming regulated by the Board along with fantasy contests was $413,182,161.

In releasing and historically comparing the May figures, the Board again noted that due to Covid-19 restrictions, all casinos were closed during the entirety of May 2020, so no revenue was generated by slot machines, table games or retail sportsbooks. Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) were also not in operation in May 2020. Therefore, in order to provide a fairer comparison of this month’s revenue figures of those type of gaming, the Board is providing where appropriate in this release a comparison of this year’s revenue against that of May 2019 when Covid-19 restrictions were not in place. Using that comparison, this month’s total revenue was 42.08% above that of May 2019 when the total revenue was $290,803,957.

Sources of gaming revenue regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board include slot machines, table games, internet gaming, sports wagering, fantasy contests and VGTs. The Board has posted separate reports for these types of gaming on its website, https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/. 

The following chart compiles all revenue generated in May 2021 by casinos along with fantasy contests and video gaming terminals operated by other vendors and includes a comparison to total revenue generated last May.

 Additionally, total tax revenue before any adjustments was $169,310,066.

Revenue by Game Type

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

Slot Machine Revenue

May’s gross revenue from slot machines was $201,390,367. Due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 casinos where closed for all of May.

When comparing slot revenue from May 2019 (pre-covid19 revenue) to May 2021 there was a 3.91% decrease with $209,579,851 in May 2019 compared $201,390,367 in May 2021.

The number of slot machines in operation in May 2021 was 22,496.

Slot machine revenue for each of the casinos is as follows. 

 Tax revenue from the play of slots machines in May 2021 was $102,992,421*.

 Table Games Revenue

Table games revenue for May 2021 was $77,229,031. Due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 casinos where closed for all of May.

When comparing May 2019 when table games generated revenue of $76,559,198, there was a 0.87% increase in revenue this May.

Table games revenue for each of the casinos is as follows.

 Total tax revenue from table games play during May 2021 was $12,425,894*.

 Internet Casino-Type Gaming (iGaming) Revenue

Casino games offered online generated gross revenue of $101,251,771 during May 2021 compared to $55,838,787 in May 2020. This was the first time since the launch of iGaming in the Commonwealth that monthly revenue had exceeded $100 million.

 A breakdown of revenue of casino games offered online in May 2021 is as follows:

 Tax revenue generated from internet gaming play during May 2021 was $41,735,651*.

Total iGaming revenue for each of the casino operators during May 2021 and May 2020, if applicable, is as follows:

Sports Wagering Revenue 

Taxable revenue during May 2021 for sports wagering was $27,746,484, compared to $4,828,989 in May of last year. The Board is noting that sports wagering numbers were greatly affected in May 2020 due to the shutdown of major North American sports leagues.

May 2021 sports wagering total handle and revenue is as follows:

¹Operated by Parx Casino

² Operated by Mohegan Sun Pocono

³ A breakout of the handle between retail and online sportsbooks can be found on the website report.

 Sports wagering revenue for each of the casinos for May 2021 and May 2020, if applicable, is as follows:

¹Operated by Parx Casino

² Operated by Mohegan Sun Pocono

³ Online only; retail operations closed due to Covid-19 restrictions

Tax revenue generated from sports wagering during May 2021 was $9,988,734*.

 Video Gaming Terminals

Total adjusted revenue for May 2021 for video gaming terminals (VGTs) was $3,601,864. By the close of May 2021, four VGT Terminal Operators were operating the maximum permitted five machines at 46 truck stop establishments.

Truck Stop VGT adjusted revenue for each of the terminal operators during May 2021 is as follows:

 ¹ operated VGTs in 24 establishments during May

² operated VGTs in 11 establishments during May

³ operates VGTs in 7 establishments during May

⁴ operates VGTs in 4 establishments during May

Tax revenue collected from the play of VGTs in May 2021 was $1,872,969.

Fantasy Contests

Fantasy Contests revenue was $1,962,644 in May 2021, an increase of 516% over May 2020, when revenue was $318,840. The Board is again noting that fantasy contest numbers were greatly affected in May 2020 due to the shutdown of major North American sports leagues.

Fantasy Contests Operators which reported revenue in May of 2021 or in May of 2020 are displayed in the following table:

 Tax revenue collected from the play of Fantasy Contests in May 2021 was $294,397*.

 *All 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 is tasked to oversee all aspects of gambling at 14 land-based casinos, online casino games, retail and online sports wagering, and Video Gaming Terminals (VGTs) at qualified truck stops, along with the regulation of online fantasy sports contests.

The land-based casino industry in Pennsylvania consists of six racetrack (Category 1) casinos, five stand-alone (Category 2) casinos, two resort (Category 3) casinos and one mini-casino (Category 4).  Casino expansion will continue over the next couple of years with the anticipated openings of up to four additional Category 4 casinos. A significant job generator in the Commonwealth, casinos and the other types of Board-regulated gaming is expected to generate over $1.8 billion in tax revenue in 2021.

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.