The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has recently published its annual report for 2020/21, showing overall revenue from gaming hitting a record high as the state continued to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
According to the report, sports wagering also ramped up, and by the end of the fiscal year, there were 15 retail locations at casinos or off-track wagering facilities and 12 online sports wagering sites.
“Following the disruption of major sports leagues and other sporting events due to Covid-19 in the prior fiscal year, the return of most events led to significant revenue growth,” it noted. “In Fiscal Year 2020/2021, $5.6bn was wagered on sporting events generating $309m in revenue…a 172% increase over revenue in the prior fiscal year.
PGCB Chair Denise J Smyler stated in the report: “There are many spokes in the wheel of the PCGB. First and foremost are the outstanding and dedicated staff which tackled a second consecutive year of challenges due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“Yet, the agency spearheaded continued growth in Pennsylvania gaming industry including the opening of two new casinos, additional igaming and sports wagering sites, and nearly doubling the number of truck stop facilities offering video gaming terminals.
“What does this mean to the citizens of Pennsylvania? The economic benefits continue to grow. Total revenue from gaming regulated by the PGCB hit a record high during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and that means the amount of tax dollars being generated and returned to Pennsylvanians also increased from $1.4bn to $1.7bn in the past three years.”
Fiscal year 2020/2021 continued to see growth in both the number of retail and online sports wagering operators and the corresponding growth in sports wagering revenue. With the addition of three new retail outlets that opened during the period (Live! Pittsburgh, Wind Creek Bethlehem and Live! Philadelphia), as of publication of the report, there are a total of 15 retail sports wagering locations.
Additionally, there were three new online sports wagering sites that launched during the year (Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course with Barstool, Hollywood Casino Morgantown with BetMGM, and Wind Creek Bethlehem with BetFred). With the addition of an online sportsbook by Live! Philadelphia that began prior to the publication of the report, sports wagering websites currently total 13 in Pennsylvania.
