Pennsylvania Sports Betting: Record High Numbers in January, 615.3M Wagered
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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced the January sports betting handle figures this weekend, and it was another great month for the state. Total sports betting handle came in at $615.3 million, setting a new monthly record.
This was the first time that Pennsylvania has gone over $600 million in betting handle, becoming just the third state in the United States to accomplish the feat. The previous record in Pennsylvania was set in December 2020, when the total sports betting handle was $548.6 million.
Despite the increase in bets, the gross sports betting revenue actually fell by a slight margin down to $33.9 million. Taxes of $11.5 million were generated from sports betting in January, an impressive number to begin the 2021 calendar year.
Online betting continues to be the most popular form of betting in the state, accounting for 94 percent of all of the wagers placed. With this current trend, online sports betting handle could go over the $600 million mark at some point in 2021.
Dynamic Duo Leads the Way
Once again, it was FanDuel and DraftKings that led the sports betting charge during the month of January. FanDuel posted a total sports betting handle of $220 million, which represented 38 percent of the market share.
DraftKings continues to gain ground on its top competitor, posting a sports betting handle of $143.5 million in January. DraftKings has continued to be right around the 25% share over the last few months.
BetMGM made an impressive jump in January, bringing in over $39 million in bets in just the second month in operation. Barstool Sports actually saw a decrease of nearly $7 million in January, and that sportsbook will look to rebound in the coming months.
Still No. 3 in US
Pennsylvania will likely continue to be the third-largest sports betting market in the US after all of the January numbers are in. Illinois has started to become a real threat, but that state is still looking to go over the $500 million mark for one month.
New Jersey is now the clear leader in the United States, falling just shy of the $1 billion mark in December 2020. In 2020, the total sports betting handle in New Jersey totaled more than $6 billion, and Nevada was second on the list with $4.2 billion.
Pennsylvania posted a total sports betting handle of $3.6 billion in 2020, and that number should be shattered during this calendar year.
Super Bowl Could Bring Huge February
Pennsylvania will not reveal the February sports betting totals until sometime near the end of March, but it should be another huge month for the state. Super Bowl betting throughout the United States saw a huge jump in 2021, and Pennsylvania should follow that trend as well.
GeoComply, a geolocation service, announced that there were three times as many transactions made throughout the US on Super Bowl weekend this year than there were in 2020. With a strong Super Bowl weekend, Pennsylvania could set another new monthly record.
