Pennsylvania casinos cooled off in April in terms of the brick-and-mortar play following the state s all-time best revenue month set in March.
Hollywood Casino York. Pennsylvania casinos experienced a dip in their brick-and-mortar play during April 2023, but online gaming continued to expand. Total revenue last month was $476.7 million. (Image: York Dispatch)The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced on Wednesday the April revenue results for the state s 17 retail casinos, iGaming websites, and retail and online sportsbooks.
In all, Pennsylvania s gaming industry won more than $476.7 million in April. That s 3.2% better than April 2022. April 2023 marked the state s eighth month where revenue exceeding $420 million.
Land-based casinos won about $213 million from slot machines and another $84.3 million on table games for a combined haul of approximately $297.3 million. That s a nearly 4% year-over-year reduction. Slot income fell 2.2% while felt win tumbled almost 8%. April s brick-and-mortar casino revenue was about 4.5% when the state s casinos won $311.2 million.
Pennsylvania s gaming industry made up for the in-person revenue losses elsewhere, specifically in iGaming and sports betting.
iGaming, Oddsmakers Continue GrowthAs was the case last month in New Jersey, where experienced reduced brick-and-mortar win with those losses made up online, Pennsylvania s internet casinos and mobile sportsbooks continued to widen their business operations in April 2023. And the online action more than covered the on-the-ground losses.
Pennsylvania iGaming revenue from interactive slots surged 25% to more than $95.6 million, while online table win rose 16% to nearly $38.9 million. Online poker rake added $2.7 million for a combined iGaming win of about $137.2 million. In April 2022, iGaming revenue was $113.1 million.
Oddsmakers also fared well in April, as sportsbooks won $37 million of the $572.2 million wagered. The $37 million hold represents a 10% year-over-year gain.
Pennsylvania s video gaming terminal locations reported gross revenue of $3.5 million, a nearly 6% decline from a year ago. Daily fantasy sports platforms added $1.5 million in contest fees, a 9% year-over-year decline.
State Industry ExpandingPennsylvania last year became the nation s behind only Nevada. The state s gaming interests edged New Jersey by just $28,700, as the Keystone State s gross gaming revenue (GGR) totaled $5,211,303,191 to the Garden State s $5,211,274,456.
Only a handful of years ago, Pennsylvania was a much smaller gaming state than Nevada and New Jersey. That changed in 2017 when the Republican-controlled legislature and then-Gov. Tom Wolf (D) turned to gaming to bridge a budget gap instead of increasing taxes.
The state s 2017 gaming expansion that Wolf signed authorized mini-casinos, sports betting, iGaming, and VLTs at certain truck stops.
The more than $5.2 billion won from gamblers last year in Pennsylvania represents an increase of 61.5% from 2017, when the state s casinos won $3.2 billion.
Pennsylvania s gaming industry continues its upward trajectory through the year s first four months. January through April gaming income totaled more than $1.91 billion, more than $300 million more than where the industry stood at this time last year.
