Pennsylvania Sports Betting Revenue Dips in November

The November Sports Betting Number

Sports betting had been on an upward trajectory since the launch in July of 2020 for Pennsylvania. This made complete sense as the NFL, the biggest moneymaker in sports betting was starting up, and the state was opening up more and more operators. There was a ton of momentum that has seemingly stopped with the numbers that came out recently for November.

Pennsylvania had a total of $492 million in sports betting handle for November, and this was a significant drop from the $525 million the state collected in October of 2020. While October did have a few things going for it, the NFL and FBS seasons were in full swing in November, and this is somewhat worrisome as to why the state would then see a drop in the handle.

However, one piece of good news is the fact that revenue actually went up from $47.8 million to $48.5 million in November. This means that the amount of tax revenue Pennsylvania made was about the same around the 12 and a half million dollar mark. Obviously, with a pandemic going on, the tax revenue is a huge deal for the state.

Explanations for the Drop

One may want to point to the pandemic having a more widespread effect in November than it did in October, and yes, while retail handle dropped nearly $10 million, mobile wagering dropped nearly $24 million. This means that travel restriction and safety could not be the only reason the handle dropped.

However, the pandemic is more complicated than that. Many people may have once again lost their jobs or were unable to collect payments in November. Less money means less wagering in any state. Plus, there were tons of issues with cancelations and game movement in November for both the NFL and FBS schedules that could have cost the sportsbooks millions in revenue due to bets being canceled and not re-ordered.

Reaction to the Numbers

I do not think that it is time to sound the alarm for sports betting in Pennsylvania. During such unprecedented times, it is somewhat incredible that every state has seen the growth in betting that it has. The current events in the United States make sports betting unpredictable.

There is even some positive news to come out of this. When looking at Pennsylvania, the state has less than half the handle that New Jersey pulled in in November. However, Pennsylvania doubled the state tax revenue that New Jersey cashed in on. This means that while the handle may not be reaching New Jersey levels yet, the state is still making tons of dough that can then be used to balance books in a year where tax revenue will surely be down.

BetMGM should be launching shortly in the state, and the major American sportsbook has already partnered with the Steelers. During the holidays and the addition of another major sportsbook, I predict the handle to bounce back.

Regardless, it will be a long while before we get trustworthy numbers, and the United States gets back to a more stable and traditional time in its history. Only then can you really start to analyze the sports betting numbers with a fuller story.