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July seems to have been a mere speed bump for Pennsylvania online casinos. After their streak of consecutive months topping $150 million in revenue ended in July, real-money online casinos in Pennsylvania struck back in almost imperial fashion in August.
August’s revenue total for the numerous online casino apps was the second highest in Pennsylvania history for any single month. That helped the gambling industry across the state post a strong month overall.
Pennsylvania online casinos strike back in August
After the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board shared statistics for August, it now stands second only to March 2022 in terms of online casino gross revenue. That month, online casinos in Pennsylvania reaped $181.5 million in gross revenue.
August 2023’s total also represents a 23.4% improvement on August 2022. Moreover, it gets Pennsylvania online casinos back on track after July Pennsylvania gambling revenue represented a true summer slump. With August’s numbers in the books, Pennsylvania online casinos have now surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the 2023 calendar year.
Despite the almost record high for the segment, online casinos still only reported a little more than half of what their brick-and-mortar counterparts in Pennsylvania did in terms of August revenue.
Physical casinos maintain August pace
Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos contributed most of the revenue and taxes for August once more. Specifically, they were responsible for 62.1% of the August revenue and tax total from brick-and-mortar casinos, online casinos, and sportsbooks combined.
At the same time, physical casinos’ year-over-year growth was nowhere near what online casinos recorded. Compared to August 2022, the statewide revenue total was essentially flat. Even so, the statewide total for gaming revenue from brick-and-mortar casinos, online casinos, and sportsbooks was up 22% compared to August 2022.
Bringing up the rear for Pennsylvania’s gambling industry in August was legal sports betting. Compared to casino gaming, sports wagering in Pennsylvania for the month fared considerably worse.
Pennsylvania sportsbooks lose ground in August
If you were a Pennsylvania sportsbook operator in August, there was good news and bad news. Compared to August 2022, the amount of money that Pennsylvanians wagered on sporting events was up 7.6%.
The other shoe that dropped was the bigger one, though. The amount of the $393 million that Pennsylvanians bet on sports during August that the books actually kept dropped by 27.4% in an annual comparison. Pennsylvania sportsbooks won about 7.8% of the money wagered during August.
Sportsbooks were prepping for the return of the NFL season in August. They could fare much better in the next few months. If they can match the gains that their online casino compatriots have just achieved, it could be a very lucrative season.
