Pennsylvanians wagered less money on sports in July than the month before, but they lost more to the sportsbooks than they did in June.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board posted its monthly report Thursday showing the unfortunate news for the sports betting public that operators retained 11.6% of what was wagered in July, compared to 9.1% the month before.
The sportsbooks’ gross revenue for the month amounted to $39.4 million, and after deductions for $7.3 million in promotional credits, their taxable revenue added up to $32.1 million. At the state’s 36% tax rate, governments would have received $11.2 million of that.
The total betting volume, or handle, spread among 13 online and 19 retail sportsbooks was $338.5 million, which was 9.3% less than in June. Coming in the middle of summer after winter sports have crowned their champions and before football season has begun, July is commonly the lightest month for sports betting.
Betting in July 2022 amounted to nearly the same amount, $336.5 million, reflecting how sports wagering activity has basically plateaued in Pennsylvania after increasing for several years after the first legal bets were taken in November 2018.
FanDuel’s market share: 40%
Some 93% of legal sports betting in Pennsylvania is done by smartphone or computer, and FanDuel retained its commanding lead of that in July.
With $126.4 million in handle, it took 40% of all online bets in the state. FanDuel’s gross revenue of $17 million and adjusted, taxable revenue of $13.4 million also far outpaced all competitors.
DraftKings was once more second in the state with $88 million in handle (27.8% of the market) and $9.6/$8.4 million in gross/adjusted revenue.
While BetMGM remained third in the state with handle of $23.9 million, its 18.2% drop from its volume of June betting was the largest among major operators. It had revenue of $2.7/$1.8 million.
By comparison, fourth-place Caesars Sportsbook dropped only 7% in handle to $18.5 million, with revenue of $1.4/$1.1 million.
Barstool Sportsbook is in the process of being rebranded by PENN Entertainment through a new partnership with ESPN, and July’s Pennsylvania numbers help explain why. It fell to a sixth-place position in handle in July with $13.7 million, just a 4.3% share of the Pennsylvania market. It had revenue of $1.3/$1.2 million.
BetRivers moved up to fifth in the state with handle of $14.5 million and revenue of $1.7/$1 million.
Of note on a smaller scale is FOX Bet, which parent company Flutter is winding down this month from taking sports bets. In its last full month of operations, it saw handle of $3.2 million (1% of the market), with gross revenue of $293,230 and adjusted revenue of $281,939.
In addition, PointsBet’s operations in Pennsylvania are at some point to be overtaken by Fanatics through its acquisition of the Australian company’s U.S. assets. PointsBet took $4.6 million in bets last month, with gross revenue of $307,380 and adjusted revenue of $136,885.
Two of the state’s smallest online operators took tiny revenue losses last month instead of profiting from bettors. Betway reported a $9,951 adjusted loss on $801,753 in handle and Wind Creek/Betfred took a $440 loss on $519,617 in bets.
Rivers Philadelphia leads in-person bets
The casinos and off-track betting locations with physical sportsbooks took $22.4 million in bets in July, retaining $3 million in revenue from them. The three most active locations were all in the Philadelphia area.
Rivers Philadelphia saw the biggest volume with $4.1 million, keeping $466,798 as revenue. Parx Casino took $3.6 million in bets, keeping $590,883. Live! Philadelphia had handle of $2.8 million and revenue of $320,186.
On the other side of the state, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh took $2.6 million in bets and claimed $250,442 as revenue.
