Thanks to some unlucky bettors and fewer promos, Pennsylvania was able to improve on June’s revenue despite another month of declining handle.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced the state’s legal sports betting market saw $338.4 million in bets last month, a 9% decrease from June’s $373.1. However, the year-over-year handle was $2 million higher than last year — a 0.5% increase.
The operators improved on their hold percentage, which made a large impact as summer sports limit the number of bets coming in. July’s 11.6% hold was much higher than June’s 9%, and that jump, paired with a drop in promotional credits, was more than enough to push July’s revenue ($39.4 million) above June’s ($33.8 million).
The state turned that into $10.9 million for themselves — a nearly 40% rebound from the previous month — and a 26% higher bill than July of last year.
Retail vs Online
The gap between betting sites and brick-and-mortar locations is vast. When looking at the total action in July, online wagers were 93% of the total handle.
While the retail locations saw fewer wagers, they did not have a problem with keeping them. Their 13% hold was higher than the online operators, who held a respectable 11.5%.
FanDuel above all
FanDuel and its Valley Forge Casino were dominant in the Pennsylvania sports betting scene yet again. The company reported $127.6 million in total bets last month, which was more than the next two sportsbooks combined. DraftKings was the second-highest operator with $88.9 million, and BetMGM was third again with $24.5 million. These three books also shared the same order when it came to revenue.
Caesars broke that pattern with the fourth most bets ($19.3 million) but just the seventh-highest total revenue.
