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PA’s GGR Hits $283 Million in July to Beat Pre-Pandemic Levels
By Jeff Osienya Aug 20, 2020 IndustryThe Keystone State posts strong recovery results for the gambling industry to overtake 2019’s numbers by a small margin. Sports betting and online gaming were the main drivers of this outstanding growth.The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has published a new report for the state’s overall gambling revenue and the numbers look good! According to the data published on the official PGCB website, PA’s gaming proceeds for July have recovered to beat pre-pandemic levels. In total, casino gaming, sports betting, and fantasy contests generated over $283 million for the Keystone State in July, which represents a 0.56% uptick year-over-year.
Normally, such a slight gain wouldn’t be anything to crow about, but these are indeed not normal times. July is the first full month that casino operations were allowed to resume in the state since the pandemic-induced shutdowns that were imposed in March by Governor Tom Wolf. This is therefore a remarkable development and that puts Pennsylvania on the right path on its road to recovery. Moreover, the July figure is double the revenue the state had raked in for June 2020.
PA’s Online Gaming Trend Continues to Strengthen
The Keystone State launched the first online casino last year in mid-July and in the same month, two more platforms opened their virtual doors to make it a total of three online casinos to start. For that month, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) brought in by online casino operators was a little over $812K.
A year later, in July 2020, a total of 10 online casinos were operational in the Keystone State, and the PGCB reported an impressive $54.35 million GGR. The revenue for July 2020 is also about 8.6% higher than the $50 million that was collected for June 2020. This fantastic win for the state can be attributed to the availability of more interactive gaming options which have taken in plenty of new customers in an age where brick-and-mortar casinos in the state are capping the floor occupancy rate at 50%.
Additionally, the PA GGR for July 2020 was further bolstered by online sports betting proceeds which brought in over $6.88 million to make it a total revenue of over $61 million for all online casinos and sports betting activities. Over the same period last year, operators in the Keystone State collected less than $4 million for both online gambling verticals. The $61 million accrued this July from internet gaming makes up 22% of the GGR collected by PA’s gaming industry as a whole.
Sports Betting Stays Strong but Has A Long Way to Go
Compared to June, online sports betting proceeds recorded a 22% increase in July thanks to the comeback of sports such as NBA, MLB soccer, MMA, and even golf, and about 84% of this revenue was collected from online sports betting platforms. Moreover, with a revenue of $8.14 million in July, both online and land-based sports betting won 186% more money for the Keystone State year-on-year.
But then, even with that positive change, the recovery of sports isn’t guaranteed in the coming months as some collegiate football leagues have already shelved their plans for this year’s fall season – and perhaps even 2021’s march madness in fear of the pandemic.
As for fantasy sports contests, the operators in PA reported over $925k in revenue for July, up from June’s $647k, but still 25.6% short of the $1.25 million garnered over the same period in 2019.
Land-Based Gaming Isn’t Out of the Woods Yet
Meanwhile, due to the current pandemic-induced land-based casino restrictions, slot machines, and table games, which have traditionally been the bringers of big bucks are also on a slump. In July, slot machines, and table games in brick and mortar casinos generated $165 million and 52.5 million apiece, after taking a 17% and 31.8% hit respectively. While the numbers are higher than what was recorded last month, they are still far from matching the revenue collected over the same period last year.
The video gaming terminals market in the Keystone State which is still rather young, managed to bounce back in July with a laudable revenue of $2.07 million, nearly doubling the $1.1 million that was recorded for June.
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