Pennsylvania Sees Spike in July Online Bets

In their second month of operation, PA online sports betting sites accounted for close to 66% of all handle brought in by operators.

Legal sportsbooks in the state took in just under $60 million in wagers at $59,331,959 in the month of July. From those wagers, operators generated roughly $5.1 million in revenue.

Physical locations brought in $20.33 million during the year’s seventh month for a 34.4% of the state’s total handle, creating $2.19 million in gross taxable revenue.

The four online operators in Pennsylvania accounted for $38,998,648 in wagers, accounting for 65.7% of the total handle for all sports betting operators over the 31 days in July.

In total, since Pennsylvania legalized sports betting in November of last year, the state has taken just under $304 million in total bets.

What Casinos Were the Winners in July for Online Bets Taken?

The first online operator, Play SugarHouse, that launched on May 28th of this year, took in $22,162,651 in bets. The figure stood for 83.7% of all online bets in the state.

SugarHouse’s sister casino, Rivers Casino, located in Pittsburgh, brought in $9,927,161 in online bets during the same time frame.

The third casino on the list, Parx, accepted $3.65 million in wagers, while FanDuel took $3.26 million in just eight days after launching their online sportsbook on July 22nd.

How Will Online Betting Affect Revenue for the NFL Season?

The strong online numbers bode well for the casinos looking forward to the upcoming NFL season.

Although August should see a slight bump in revenue with the NFL’s preseason, it won’t be until the regular season kicks off on September 5th that the online operators will see a dramatic influx of online bets.

With a jump in July to $59.3 million from June’s $46.3 million take, some betting experts in the state believe that August will see a lift to somewhere near $70 million this month.

But Metro Bet PA believes that from the $70 million figure that Pennsylvania could see a quantum leap to around $125 million in handle for the first month of the football season.

The estimate comes, in part, from looking at how New Jersey’s revenue exploded when they experienced their first August to September last year.

Last August, New Jersey saw a handle that capped at $95.6 million, but the following month, the take nearly doubled to a staggering $183.9 million.

Given that Pennsylvania bettors will have their first full season to bet on Penn State and the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s not wishful thinking to believe that September will break records for the state.

Another comparison that betting experts are making between New Jersey and Pennsylvania is the expectation that the Keystone State will see continued growth in online bet percentage.

Last month, New Jersey’s operators took close to 85% of all bets via mobile devices, accounting for over $213 million in online wagers.

If Pennsylvania reaches over $125 million in wagers in September, a New-Jersey like take by online devices could begin to reach close to $100 million in online bets.

With Pennsylvania in their infancy in online wagering, the state will continue to see growth as more online operations launch and accessibility to easier wagering spreads to customers.