Pennsylvania Sports Betting Sees Increase in March to $560.3M Wagered

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has revealed the March sports betting numbers, and there was an increase from February, as expected. The total sports betting handle for March was $560.3 million after it fell to just $509.5 million for February.

The increase in sports betting last month also signaled a 326.6 percent increase from the March 2020 total, but the state was starting to see some COVID-19 effects at that time. Sports betting has still declined since January when the total sports betting handle was more than $615 million.

There was also an increase in gross revenue for March as the total was just over $29 million. This figure was a 79 percent increase from the February total and a jump of more than 325 percent year-over-year.

Mobile sports betting continues to lead the way in the state, as this form of betting accounted for $514.3 million of the total handle. Online sports betting usually accounts for right around 90 percent of all wagers placed in the state.

Valley Forge Casino Leads Way

The PGCB also breaks down the performance of each sports betting operator for the month, and Valley Forge Casino was the big winner. Valley Forge is partnered with FanDuel Sportsbook, and the total handle through that partnership was $205.9 million.

DraftKings Sportsbook operates through a partnership with The Meadows Casinos in Pittsburgh. That site posted a total sports betting handle of $118.4 million, which was only a slight growth of $5.2 million from February.

BetRivers saw a considerable jump in sports betting handle from February as the state saw nearly $55 million in March. The Barstool Sportsbook app saw a slight decrease in March but still had more than $65 million in sports betting handle.

Online Casino Gaming Also Up

March was the first time that Pennsylvania has gone over the $400 million mark in total gaming revenue, and online casino gaming saw a big month as well. There is just one online poker option in the state but several online casinos that offer slots and table games.

The total handle at online slot machines was more than $1.75 billion, and the gross revenue was $66.4 million. Online table games posted a total handle of $1.5 billion and gross revenue of $28.9 million.

Chance to Pass Up Illinois

Earlier this month, the Illinois Gaming Board revealed the February sports betting handle totals for Illinois. Those numbers were just slightly better than what was reported in Pennsylvania, knocking Pennsylvania down to the fourth-largest market in the U.S.

These two states will likely have very similar numbers for March as well, but April could be a different story. As long as Pennsylvania continues on this upward trend, it should jump over Illinois once again and reclaim its spot in the top three.

Illinois now has in-person registration back in place, which will likely hurt the overall sports betting numbers for that market. Online registration was
part of a gubernatorial executive order, which has since expired.