Online Casinos and Sportsbooks in Pennsylvania Report Record-Breaking January

February 22, 2021 Andrej Vidovic

It has been a very strong start of the year for Pennsylvania’s sports books and online casinos who reported over $600 million in monthly sports wagers (the first time ever they hit this sum) while also hitting a record for online casino revenue.

PA’s sports books have thus embarked on a path of raking in almost $6 billion in sports wagers in 2021. State’s online casino could reach more than $800 million in taxable revenue.

Positive Signs

PlayPennsylvania.com’s lead analyst, Dustin Gouker, says:

“A return to relatively normal — with a healthy retail market and a dependable sports schedule — would be enough to fuel growth in Pennsylvania’s gaming industry. There are a lot of positive signs right now as sportsbooks and online casinos continue to gain steam, and hopefully, the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos begin to regain their footing. If things do return to normal, the gaming industry should see significant gains across the board in 2021.”

In January, Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks jumped forward with $615.3 million in bets, according to Wednesday’s official data. This is an increase of 76.6% from $348.4 million in January last year. It also betters the previous record from last December’s $548.6 million.

No Longer an Impediment

$34 million in taxable revenue was produced by those bets. This is a 49.1% rise from January 2020’s $22.8 million. This yielded $11.5 million in state taxes and $679,408 in local share assessments.

Since the November 2018 launch, sportsbooks in Pennsylvania have made $111.7 million in taxes.

Another analyst, Valerie Cross, adds:

“Pennsylvania’s tax structure did slow down the early progress of the industry, but the high tax rate no longer appears to be much of an impediment. Operators have flocked to the state and produced millions in revenue. In that way, regulators achieved their goal of creating a reliable revenue producer for the state, and that could attract attention from other states as they work to set up legal sports betting.”