Online casinos in Pennsylvania generated $142.5 million in revenue in August, the vertical’s second-best month on record, due in part to strong breakout performances from the state’s two new Qualified Gaming Entities (QGEs) — Bally Casino and Golden Nugget Casino.
QGE’s are designated as out-of-state operators by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) and are not tethered to a land-based gaming property.
The regulator still has eight certificates available to potential QGEs — six for online poker, one for online slots, and one for online table games. Each certificate costs $4 million. QGEs are not authorized to launch online sports betting.
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Bally Casino jumped into the market in June and made just under $450k, according to data from the PGCB. Revenue more than tripled in July ($1.4 million) before climbing about 50% month-over-month to arrive at about $2.2 million in August.
Meanwhile, Golden Nugget clocked in with nearly $192k in revenue in August. The platform launched on August 21, so the revenue data sent to PGCB is only for an 11-day period.
PGCB awarded QGE status to Bally Casino in March and to Golden Nugget in late June.
Two Licensees Break Records
With the QGEs on board, the vertical grew 9.5% month-over-month ($130.2 million) and was up 36.5% year-over-year ($104.4 million). The vertical is expected to grow even further as Bally Casino and Golden Nugget get established.
August was just short of the record $145.3 million set in March. It was off by a difference of $2.8 million, or 1.9%.
Two licencees broke revenue records in August. Valley Forge Casino, which is partnered with FanDuel Casino PA and Stardust Casino, hit a record $32.4 million. Caesars Casino PA, on the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack license, made a record $5.6 million.
Operators on the Hollywood Casino license — Barstool (for now), BetMGM Casino, DraftKings Casino, and Hollywood Casino PA — had their second-best month in August, grossing $60 million and maintaining their lead over the entire field.
Hollywood was up 11% month-over-month ($54 million), slightly better than Valley Forge, which was up 10.9% ($29.2 million). The operators on the Rivers-Philadelphia license — BetRivers Casino PA, Borgata Casino PA, and SugarHouse Casino PA — grossed $28 million in August, up 4.8% from July ($26.7 million).
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Newcomers Could Pass Mount Airy and Live!
The three groups of operators on the Hollywood, Rivers, and Valley Forge licenses accounted for more than 84% of the market in August. Of the remaining eight operators, Harrah’s was the largest for revenue ($5.6 million), followed by Parx Casino PA ($5.3 million), and operators on the Live! Casino license, Betway and PlayLive! Casino ($2.9 million).
PokerStars Casino, on the Mount Airy Casino license, had $2.5 million in revenue.
Rounding out the group in August were Wind Creek Casino PA ($1.9 million) and Mohegan Casino PA ($1.6 million), the latter of which is on the Mohegan Sun Pocono license.
At the rate that Bally Casino and Golden Nugget are growing, they will likely pass the operators on the Live! Casino license as well as Mount Airy.
