Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks generated just a fraction of the bets that they might have expected during a normal April, while online casinos and poker rooms smashed their revenue record with $43.1m.
That divergent path, which includes an estimated loss of more than $300m in sports bets, according to PlayPennsylvania.com, will continue as long as most major sports and the state’s land-based casinos remain closed.
During a month in which PlayPennsylvania.com would have estimated a handle of nearly $350m, Pennsylvania sportsbooks generated just $46m in wagers. That is down from $131.3m in March, though up slightly from $36.8m in April 2019, before online sports betting launched.
Sportsbooks yielded $3.2m in gross revenue, up from $8.6m in March. The win resulted in $988,255 in state taxes.
“The growth in online gambling as well as betting on non-traditional sports are industry bright spots,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “But there just isn’t any way for Pennsylvania operators to compensate for such a dramatic loss of revenue, including at retail sportsbooks and land-based casinos, which can’t generate a single dollar right now.”
Before the COVID-19 shutdowns, Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks had grown from a 2019 low handle of $31.5m to a record $348.4m in January 2020.
“The momentum that brought records month after month for Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks has been reversed almost instantly,” said Valerie Cross, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Until sports leagues figure out a way to reopen, these dreary results will continue.”
With retail sportsbooks shuttered in April—potentially losing out on some $35m of in-person bets, online sportsbooks generated Pennsylvania’s entire handle. FanDuel Sportsbook at Valley Forge Casino led the market in April with $19m in April wagers, down from $53.7m in March. That yielded $1.3m in taxable revenue, down from $2.8m in March.
Limited to futures betting and action on nontraditional sports, Pennsylvania’s online sportsbooks are arguably faring better than might have been predicted. And sportsbooks could be getting some help from more mainstream sports soon, with auto racing restarting, golf planning on teeing off in the coming weeks, and Major League Baseball inching closer.
“A $46m handle with such limited options in terms of sports is a surprise,” Gouker said. “April could potentially be the statistical low point, but there is so much that can happen that the immediate future is impossible to predict. That is a bit disconcerting for operators.”
