Online casino revenue more than doubled between 2020 and 2021, according to data from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). The vertical ended the year with December as its second-highest month for revenue to date — $99 million.
According to the regulator, the online casino vertical grossed $1.08 billion during the full 2021 calendar year, up from $529.9 million in 2020. Interactive slots grossed $759.4 million in 2021, up from $377.7 million the year before. Gross revenue from banking tables was $321 million in 2021, up from $152.2 million in 2020.
The vertical was up 8.7% month-over-month and up 43.8% year-over-year, compared to $91.1 million and $68.9 million, respectively. December was two months removed from a record $100 million set in October.
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Larger Operators Grew Significantly in 2021
BetMGM Casino PA, DraftKings, and Barstool — all operators on the license for Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course — maintained their hold on the vertical in December with $40.2 million in revenue, a month-over-month increase of 8.3% ($37.1 million). Hollywood was up 71% year-to-year, from $23.5 million.
Operators on the Rivers-Philadelphia license pulled second place for revenue. Borgata and Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers and PlaySugarHouse brands grossed $26 million in December, up 7.7% month-over-month ($24.2 million) and 34.4% year-over-year ($19.3 million).
FanDuel and Stardust Online Casino, operators on the Valley Forge Casino license, were third in revenue at $18.5 million in December. Revenue was up 12.2% month-over-month ($16.5 million) and 65.7% year-over-year ($11.1 million).
Market shares in the vertical didn’t move much for the second month in a row. Hollywood held the lead at year’s end with a 40.6% market share, followed by Borgata with 26.3% and Valley Forge with 18.1%.
PGCB data show the seven smaller online operators in the state combined for $14.3 million in revenue in December, up from $13.4 million in November. The market share for the group continued to decline, hitting 14.4% in December.
Poker Ends 2021 On High Note
After sliding for three months in a row, Pennsylvania’s online poker operators saw an 11.1% increase in revenue in December, pushing the vertical to $3.1 million — the second-highest month for revenue in 2021, behind only August ($3.2 million).
Online poker was up 12.2% year-over-year ($2.7 million) in December, at a time when PokerStars PA — on the Mount Airy Casino Resort license — held the market exclusively. The vertical grossed $32.4 million during the 2021 calendar year, down 9.6% from 2020 ($35.9 million) and the height of the pandemic.
While three of the four poker operators gained revenue in December, the one that didn’t — WSOP PA — still managed to maintain its lead over third-place operator BetMGM Poker PA and Borgata Poker PA in fourth.
PokerStars led the vertical with $2 million in revenue, up 14.3% from November ($1.8 million). WSOP was second with $640k, down 1.4% from the month prior ($649k).
BetMGM — on the Hollywood license — grossed $289k, up 24.1% month-over-month ($233k). Meanwhile, Borgata — on the Rivers-Philadelphia license — had $90k in gross revenue, up 5.2% from November ($85k).
Similar to the online casino vertical, market shares didn’t change much in poker month-over-month. The order of PokerStars, WSOP, BetMGM, and Borgata held true in December (66.7%, 20.9%, 9.4%, and 2.9%, respectively) much the same as it did in November (64.9%, 23.5%, 8.4%, and 3.1%).
Handle Grew 83% in 2021
The PA sports betting handle grew 83% year-over-year, according to PGCB data. Handle totaled nearly $6.6 billion during the 2021 calendar year, up from $3.6 billion in 2020 — when the pandemic forced many sporting events to be canceled or postponed.
Revenue from the sports betting vertical was $505.5 million in 2021, up from $269.9 million in 2020.
The online sports betting portion of the 2021 handle was $6 billion, while the retail handle was $529.9 million. By comparison, the online handle was $3.3 billion, and the retail handle $302 million in 2020.
For the year, revenue from online betting totaled $450.5 million in 2021, up from $241 million in 2020. Revenue from retail betting totaled $55 million in 2021, up from $28.9 million in 2020.
One month after reaching a lofty high of $76.3 million, online sportsbook revenue dropped back down to $35.2 million — putting December squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of monthly revenue in 2021.
Still, the vertical was down 53.9% month-over-month and 20.3% year-over-year ($44.2 million).
FanDuel Sportsbook and its Valley Forge partner continued its long-running dominance of the vertical, grossing $13.8 million in December.
The recently rebranded Hollywood Casino at The Meadows was in second place in revenue with $8.1 million. Barstool runs a retail sportsbook for The Meadows while DraftKings runs the casino’s online sportsbook.
BetMGM Sportsbook overtook Barstool Sports for third place in terms of revenue. BetMGM — partnered with Hollywood Casino Morgantown — had $5.2 million in revenue, compared to Barstool and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, which had $3.9 million. The latter casino uses Barstool for its online sports wagers.
The 53.9% month-over-month drop in revenue was felt by all four operators. Valley Forge dropped 62.8% month-to-month ($37 million), while Hollywood fell 50.7% ($8 million), Meadows declined 48.5%, ($15.8 million) and Morgantown was off 9.1% ($5.7 million).
