Pennsylvania Gaming reports best-ever 2023 with nearly $5.7 billion in revenue
Add Pennsylvania to the list of states calling 2023 the best year in the game. In addition to New Jersey, which announced record annual revenue earlier this week, Pennsylvania announced Thursday that 2023 will be a banner year for its gaming industry.
Pennsylvania is home to land-based casinos, online gambling, in-person and online sports betting, truck stop video gaming terminals, and fantasy sports. In 2023, various gambling interests combined produced a record profit of $5.697 billion. Wins in 2023 are up 9.3% from last year.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s (PGCB) year-end report found that iGaming, which consists of online slots and table games, was the main reason for the record performance. Internet gamblers lost $1.74 billion, a 28% increase from 2022.
Brick-and-mortar slot machines also performed well at the state's 17 casinos, with terminal gross gaming revenue (GGR) reaching a record $2.46 billion, up 3 percent. Oddsmakers' odds rose more than 14% to a record $458.6 million.
All other industries experienced slight year-on-year declines. Casino table game winnings fell 2% to $990.5 million. VGT revenue fell 2% to $42 million and fantasy sports competition revenue fell 10% to $20 million.
iGaming is booming
In the six states where online casinos are legal, iGaming continues to thrive. Online channel revenue reached $1.74 billion last year, continuing the industry's impressive recovery.
Pennsylvania legalized iGaming through the state’s 2017 Gaming Expansion Plan. The online business was launched at the end of 2019.
2020 is iGaming’s first full year in Pennsylvania, and it couldn’t come at a better time. While the state ordered brick-and-mortar casinos to close due to the pandemic, online casinos were open for gambling. The iGaming platform has earned over $565.7 million this year.
Since then, online casinos in Pennsylvania have continued to grow. iGaming's gross profit topped $1.11 billion in 2021 and increased to $1.36 billion in 2022.
Despite a huge increase in iGaming sales, the state's land-based casinos still managed to increase revenue.
Retail slot machine and table gaming revenue reached $3.43 billion last year, up 1.6% from the previous year. Casino profits in 2023 are also up 7% from 2021 GGR, but only 5% higher than pre-pandemic 2019.
While GGR for land-based casinos in iGaming states is growing year over year, analysts have expressed concern that online gaming could slow stronger land-based casino growth.
Parks leads
Parks Casino in North Philadelphia was the highest-grossing casino in the commonwealth last year. The casino won $386.2 million on slot machines and $202 million on table games, for a total winnings of $588.2 million.
Parx and its sister casino, Parx Casino Shippensburg, are the only smoke-free casinos in the state.
Wind Creek Bethlehem ranked second with $526.3 million in total gaming revenue, $285 million in slot machine revenue and $241.3 million in table gaming revenue.
On the iGaming front, Penn Entertainment's online Hollywood Casino brand led the way with $712.4 million in revenue. Penn holds an impressive 41% market share in the iGaming industry. There are 12 online casino operators.
Pennsylvania lost to New Jersey
Nevada and New Jersey have long been two of the richest gambling states in the United States. That continued into 2022, when Pennsylvania narrowly battled the Garden State for second place. Pennsylvania’s 2022 GGR is $5,211,274,456, just ahead of New Jersey by $28,735.
New Jersey regains second place after exceeding $5.77 billion in 2023 GGR. Nevada hasn't released data for December yet, but through November the state's casinos won more than $14 billion.
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Source: www.casino.org
