Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle Tops $850 Million in January
Money Wagered Drops, But Profits Remain High
Sportsbooks in the state of Pennsylvania saw fewer sports bets in January than in the previous two months. The total reported handle was $858.1 million. But they still had a pretty solid month, reporting $97.6 million in revenue. That’s just a shade under the $98.1 million revenue in December when the Pennsylvania sports betting handle was $925.5 million. And it’s a large climb from November’s $49.1 million when $934.1 million was bet on sports in the state.
As expected, the vast majority of the Pennsylvania sports betting handle was generated by those who like to bet online or on a bet sports app. In-person wagers totaled $49.3 million, with $808.8 million coming from online wagers. The state’s cut from sports betting is $23.7 million, with the local share assessment another $1.4 million.
The Pennsylvania sports betting handle can largely be tied to football. January’s slightly smaller betting handle was partially due to fewer football games on the schedule. In July, the state saw $338.4 million wagered. That number increased to $388 million in August when preseason NFL games and a handful of college games were played. But in September, the handle shot up to $726.2 million and has been over $800 million in the last four months. A decrease in February’s betting handle is expected. However, March should see a slight increase due to the NCAA College Basketball Tournament.
FanDuel, DraftKings Attract Most Bets
It’s no surprise that FanDuel and DraftKings saw the majority of the bets placed in the state and also made the most profit. FanDuel took in $373 million in bets and showed revenue of $55 million. Retail betting came in at just under $2.3 million for FanDuel. Revenue from in-person bets totaled just $309,285. The sportsbook made $54.7 million from online betting.
DraftKings shows a slightly higher percentage of retail bets than FanDuel. Of the $211.9 million wagered through DraftKings, $2 million came from in-person bets. Online sports betting accounted for $24.18 million in revenue for the company.
Barstool was No. 3 in handle but showed a revenue loss for the month after promotional credits were accounted for. The sportsbook saw $1.766 million in revenue from a total handle of $76.07 million, but claimed $1.9 million in promotional credits for a net loss of $142,417.
Barstool wasn’t the only sportsbook to show a loss for the month. Presque Isle Downs reported a modest loss of $37,047 on a handle of $1.12 million.
The last few months have shown a pattern of retail sports bettors doing slightly better than those who play with online gambling sites or apps. In November, the sportsbook hold was 5.31% for online wagers and 4.47% for those who bet in person. December’s online hold for the sportsbooks was 10.65% compared to 9.67% for retail betting.
January did show a bigger difference between the two types of bets. The house hold for online betting was 11.59% compared to 7.93% for in-person betting.
Eight of the sportsbooks in the state reported holds of at least 10%, with Parx Shippensburg showing the highest at 18.6% A retail only sportsbook, Parx Shippensburg showed revenue of $8,603 on a handle of just $46,273.
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