Mobile Sports Betting Supporting Pennsylvania Gambling Recovery

Pennsylvania handled $74.8 million in sports wagers and earned $4.8 million in revenue in May—both sizable increases.
Pennsylvania casinos are beginning to reopen in June, which could help sports betting revenues increase even more.
The odds the Pennsylvania sports betting industry takes months to fully recover to its pre-pandemic success is high but it’s slowly on its way.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – After a precipitous decline in sports betting handle and revenue in March and April, Pennsylvania showed signs of recovery with a sizable uptick in May betting action.

Pennsylvania sportsbooks collectively handled $74.8 million in wagers in May and earned $4.8 million in sports betting revenue—a hold rate of 6.46%.

While these totals are a far cry from what Pennsylvania was averaging prior to COVID-19, they represent a sharp increase from April. Month-over-month, the handle increased by 62%, and revenues increased by 67%.

As usual, the two most successful sportsbooks were those of the Meadows Casino (affiliated with DraftKings) and Valley Forge Casino (affiliated with FanDuel). Together they accounted for 65% of Pennsylvania’s total betting handle and 71% of its total revenue.

Additionally, many of Pennsylvania’s top casinos are beginning to reopen with added safety measures. The Rivers Pittsburgh Casino and Meadows Racetrack & Casino both reopened last week, and more are set to reopen this Friday.

All casino patrons will be legally required to wear a mask and occupancy will be limited to 50% of capacity.

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Outlook For 2020

Pennsylvania sportsbooks appear to be on the path to a full financial recovery after that disastrous mid-March crash.

A number of international sports leagues—including the German Bundesliga and English Premier League—have returned to play, which has undoubtedly bolstered legal sports betting handle.

Major North American sports leagues, including Major League Soccer and the NBA, also appear set to return to play in late July.

Major League Baseball could also return, although there are still a number of disputes between players and ownership that must be resolved first.

The return of all these popular sports leagues should draw a higher volume of wagers, especially given that the American public has been starved for sports for three months now.

Full recovery will still likely take some time. There most likely won’t be a vaccine available until late 2021, which could deter interest in retail betting.

Additionally, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate currently stands at 15%, largely because of COVID-19.

The entire national economy is currently going through its worst depression in 90 years.

Many eager bettors likely can’t afford to risk their money at the moment.

Still, there is some reason for optimism. Sportsbooks across the country are still months or years away from full recovery, but Pennsylvania, with its investment in mobile betting infrastructure, is better positioned than most to make a speedy recovery.

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Carter Floyd

With a dual background in English and sports performance and business analytics, Carter aims to write stories that both engage and inform the reader. He prides himself on his ability to interweave empirical data and traditional narrative storytelling. When he isn’t keeping readers up to date on the latest sports betting legal news, he’s banging his head against a wall regretting his decision to be a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan.