The NCAA Tournament brings plenty of excitement to Pennsylvania sports betting. Despite Duquense as the only Keystone State representative, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reported $800.7 million in total bets and $63.7 million in revenue for the state in March.
PA online sportsbook handle had a strong March, despite no NFL or college football games on the schedule. Pennsylvania turned in a better March than it did September, when operators recorded $726.3 million.
PlayPennsylvania Managing Editor, Dave Briggs, said:
“It was far and away the best March handle Pennsylvania sportsbooks have ever had, proving Pennsylvanians love their basketball. The fact total betting in March was up 10% year-over-year, 12% compared to March of 2022 and a whopping 43% since March of 2021 also proves the growing popularity of sports betting in the commonwealth.”
March 2024 numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting
? Handle: $800.7 million (21% MoM increase; 10.7% YoY increase)
? Revenue: $63.7 million (26.4% MoM decrease; 4.2% YoY decrease) / Adjusted Gross Revenue (taxable): $45.6 million
? Hold: 8.0% (up from 7.6% last month)
? Percent of bets placed online: 94.8%
? Promotional credits: $18.1 million
? March sports betting taxes: $15.4 million
? State and local entities: $911,631
? Top sports betting app by handle: FanDuel Sportsbook PA with $333.2 million
? Top sports betting app by revenue: FanDuel Sportsbook PA with $32.2 million
Quick analysis from March PA sports betting figures
- Handle in the Keystone State fell PA online sportsbooks increased March handle in each of the previous three years. Last month was the state’s best March ever. Despite having only one Pennsylvania team reach the NCAA Tournament, PPG Paints Arena hosted first and second round which brought notable programs to the state such as Kentucky, Creighton, Oregon and South Carolina. It also included a huge upset, when Oakland, a 14 seed, knocked off Kentucky in Pittsburgh.
- Fanatics posted even stronger numbers the second full month of operation in Pennsylvania. After recording nearly $16 million in February handle, the new operator more than doubled that total in March. Fanatics’ $31.9 million in March handle placed itself sixth in the state, already ahead of BetRivers. Fanatics finished about $1.5 million behind Caesars for the fifth slot.
- FanDuel Sportsbook PA is the only online platform that has posted a hold rate of more than 10% this year. The operator is overwhelming leader, acquiring 42.3% of market share so far in 2023. It’s 11.4% hold has yielded $111.9 million in YTD revenue, more than double DraftKings’ $53.1 million.
PA sportsbook handle by operator in March 2024
| Licensee | Online Brand | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | FanDuel | $333,189,800 | $32,225,990 | 9.7% | $8,767,545 |
| Hollywood Meadows | DraftKings | $209,222,648 | $14,878,245 | 7.1% | $3,864,112 |
| Hollywood Penn National | ESPN BET | $54,637,036 | $3,360,382 | 6.2% | $592,526 |
| Hollywood Morgantown | BetMGM | $51,939,662 | $3,747,711 | 7.2% | $632,256 |
| Harrah's Philadelphia | Caesars | $33,433,001 | $1,998,945 | 6.0% | $574,067 |
| Hollywood York | Fanatics | $31,934,997 | $1,949,160 | 6.1% | $363,251 |
| Rivers Pittsburgh | BetRivers | $30,114,208 | $2,143,567 | 7.1% | $540,941 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | PlaySugarHouse | $19,501,294 | $859,762 | 4.4% | $212,031 |
| Parx | betParx | $16,666,192 | $985,088 | 5.9% | $302,098 |
| Live Philadelphia | Betway | $8,199,239 | $706,269 | 8.6% | $254,257 |
| Mohegan Pennsylvania | Unibet | $5,376,276 | $296,688 | 5.5% | $103,316 |
| Mohegan Lehigh Valley | $1,359,066 | $165,935 | 12.2% | $59,737 | |
| Wind Creek | Wind Creek | $1,348,188 | $127,850 | 9.5% | $46,026 |
| South Philadelphia Race & Sportsbook | $1,209,576 | $116,990 | 9.7% | $42,116 | |
| Live Pittsburgh | $1,160,917 | $94,949 | 8.2% | $34,182 | |
| Presque Isle Downs | $890,390 | $795 | 0.1% | $286 | |
| Mount Airy | Fox Bet | $470,131 | $55,902 | 11.9% | $20,125 |
| Parx Shippensburg | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Total | $800,718,332 | $63,715,6034 | 8.0% | $16,409,365 |
