The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has recently released the revenue figures for the state’s gambling industry in September. Unsurprisingly, the sector is still soaring as it continues to recover from the ravaging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the gaming regulator’s press release, the total revenue for gaming and fantasy sports was a whopping $415,671,773. That is a massive 46 percent increase from the revenue that the industry generated within the same period last year.
To put this into perspective, here is a breakdown of the revenue by game type:
| Type of Gaming Revenue | September 2021 | September 2020 |
| Retail Slots Revenue | $198,880,281 | $157,445,561 |
| Retail Tables Revenue | $84,089,528 | $59,159,255 |
| I-Gaming Slot Revenue | $68,560,341 | $39,935,329 |
| Sports Wagering Revenue | $28,253,790 | $6,269,883 |
| I-Gaming Tables Revenue | $26,343,260 | $14,730,563 |
| Video Gaming Terminals Revenue | $3,406,058 | $2,383,746 |
| Fantasy Contests Revenue | $3,213,669 | $3,234,158 |
| I-Gaming Poker Revenue | $2,924,846 | $2,376,045 |
| Total Gaming Revenue | $415,671,773 | $285,534,539 |
Right off the bat, the performance of various verticals in the state’s gambling sector was very impressive. Retail slots and retail table games maintained the lead but online gambling is also as strong as ever. iGaming reported pretty solid amounts of growth. Fantasy sports were the only vertical that recorded a year-on-year decrease in revenue.
Big Boost from Sports Betting
Sports betting might not have topped the revenue records, but it is certainly performing very well. In September, both the online and retail sports betting in the Keystone State reported betting volumes of $578.760 million. This was a mind-blowing 66.1 percent increase from the volume recorded in August. It also represents an equally impressive year-on-year increase from the $462,787,392 that was recorded in September 2020. Last month’s revenue is the second-highest sports betting volume in the state’s history.
Out of the total revenue, mobile betting accounted for $527,438,189 of the volume. That is 91.1 percent of the total sports betting handle. That is not too surprising considering how massive the mobile sports betting market has grown over the past couple of years. The increased accessibility of mobile devices as well as the commitment of operators to creating amazing mobile experiences is to thank for all these amazing stats.
Putting all of this into consideration the future of gambling in Pennsylvania looks very bright. The pandemic severely impacted certain gambling verticals while resulting in a shift in interest in others. Now that things are starting to return to normal, we can expect more shifts in some aspects. Online gambling continues to stay very strong and retail gambling seems to be headed towards regaining its lost glory. Future gambling revenue reports will help to determine how well everything is going.