Data for the month of January released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board shows a marked increase in the state’s sports betting handle for the 8^th straight month.

Licensed sportsbook handles just shy of $350 million

Pennsylvania has 12 licensed sportsbooks, which recorded a handle of $348.4 million in the first month of 2020. This marks a $5.8 million improvement since December 2019. The taxable gross revenue for January was $22.8 million, marking a 100% increase in December. The increase was most likely because of the NFL regular season and the end of the college football season.

The state earned a revenue of $7.8 million from the proceeds, while local taxes amounted to $456,824. Note that Pennsylvania state sports betting revenue is 34% while local taxes amount to 2%. In the first seven months of the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the state’s sportsbooks have already handled over $1.6 billion. The gross revenue from this handle has been $87.7 million, which has helped the state earn a whopping $29.8 million.

Online opportunities skyrocket

The increasing sports betting revenue for the state comes on the back of an easy to access online market. Though most online sports betting apps are linked to land-based casinos, they allow open registration. Some other states have similar provisions, but they mandate punters to register themselves at a land-based casino first.

In January, about 88.6% of the handle, which amounted to $308.6 million, came via online betting channels. The state has eight movie sports betting channels. Interestingly, the FanDuel app accounted for 50% of the total mobile bets, i.e., $153.1 million. Its rival DraftKings reported a handle of $58.7 million, which is 63.5% higher than December.

DraftKings is growing quickly in the state after its launch in November. It is offering several special offers to entice users and bring them to its betting platform. FanDuel isn’t keeping any stones unturned with its “Spread the Love” offer, which allows special spreads and offers on local teams.

Slot play is dwindling in Pennsylvania. In December 2019, slot play accounted for $2.43 billion but had fallen to $2.42 billion in January. However, gross terminal revenue has increased to $190.3 million. The state received $64.7 million in revenue from the proceeds. The leader of slots in the state was Parx Casino, as it recorded $477.3 million in total wagers, earning $35.9 million in gross revenue. Table game revenues have also fallen from $78.1 million to $72.6 million with Wind Creek Bethlehem generating $18.3 million in January 2020.