October set new highs for sportsbook volume and Online Casino Revenue in PA

Bettors created the busiest month for sportsbooks, while iCasinos cashed as the big-money winners.

Financial data from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has revealed the largest revenue for casino operators in October. Pennsylvania sports bettors chipped in and waged more than any other month this year.

Sports enthusiasts broke the betting record with $797.1 million, considerably higher than the previous high in January when they wagered $793.7 million. However, sportsbook operators didn’t cash as much because users had better winning percentages than before. Bookies grossed $61.5 million and earned $40.5.

Simultaneously, 18 PA online casino apps had peak revenue of $124.5 million, surpassing the leading month of March, which earned $118.1 million from online casinos from games like slots, poker, and other table games.

The Keystone State collected $183.7 million in taxes for state and local government. The commercial gaming sector created over $450 in October in total. 

Land-based Casinos equate to the biggest piece of gaming revenue. Gamblers in 16 state casinos brought $278.9 million in retail slots and table games. The gaming revenue went down from $280.1 million in September, a more significant drop-off from last year’s $292.4 million generated by 15 casinos. 

FanDuel is beyond the competition again

A lively rivalry in Pennsylvania between FanDuel and DraftKings in online sports betting was under the spotlight in well-performing October. Football season, the start of the NBA league, and other major pro sports make October the peak month for sports bookmakers. The competition was further sparked by September’s DraftKing closing the gap in the Pennsylvania betting market to the closest margin yet.

FanDuel rebounded well in October and once again broadened the gap with more activity and revenue.

FanDuel has market-leading numbers in October. Sportsbook grossed $289.6 million, which is 39.5% of the market share. Leading bookie had $32.4 and taxable revenue of $21.8 million. In both cases, those revenue figures were more than half the total collected by sportsbooks in the state.

Their fierce competitor, DraftKings, had better numbers than in September, with $229 million. However, this is just a modest increase in income, leading to a drop-off in market share from 34.5% to 31.3%. DraftKings grossed $10.4 million with taxable revenue of $7.6 million.

Looking at the best-performing duo in the back is BetMGM, with $55.3 million in the handle and gross/taxable revenue of $5.1/1.3 million. PENN Entertainment’s Barstool Sportsbook held fourth place in October. They collected $46.9 million in wagers with revenue of $2.3 million/$ 1.5 million.

August and September could have been better for bettors, and bookmakers collectively had hold rates over 11%. A record-breaking sequence came down to earth in October when the hold rate (the amount sportsbooks retain from customers’ losing bets) dropped to the usual 7.7% in gross revenue retained from wagers.

Online casinos made 21% more than a year ago

Compared to any other month, Pennsylvanians were enthusiastic about playing slots in PA online casino no deposit bonus 2022 from their phones or laptops in October- which is not commonly legal across the US as sports betting has become. 

The record-breaking month brought $124.5 million in iCasino revenue, which topped September by 10.5% and the previous October by 21%. It’s worth noting that October 2021 held a record with $102.9 million in revenue for the sector.

Operators cashed in $86.3 million from online slots, $35.7 from table games, and $2.5 million in iPoker. 

Most offline casinos have faced lower revenue

We saw a different story in brick-and-mortar casinos. Traditional houses had less revenue than in October 2021. Among active 16 casinos in Pennsylvania, the most significant income drivers are slots play and Mount Airy Casino Resort, Live! Philadelphia, Live! Pittsburgh, Hollywood Casino York, and Lady Luck Nemacolin had the best month in slots. Table games revenue was up over a year only at Live! Philadelphia.

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