Once upon a time enjoying some casino action was something that you had to leave the house to enjoy. But for the last few decades, this has been a changing picture. It’s all been thanks to the arrival of iGaming, which has been facilitated by the arrival of the internet in our lives. Some countries led the way in its adoption, most notably the UK. In the US we were a little slower to catch on, and we’re still making ground.
However, some states have been quicker than others in adopting online gambling. Leading the way has been Pennsylvania—proof that it’s not just being a key swing state in the US election that has put it firmly on the map. In fact, in terms of gambling generally, it holds the distinguished position of being the country’s second-biggest state after Nevada in terms of casino revenues, with possible ambitions to overtake it to become Number One. Here, heading to a casino is a popular pastime, while an increasing number of online operators are launching on an almost monthly basis.
The state has always seen gambling as a potential revenue-earner that can create jobs, boost the economy, and fill gaps in the budget. So, as long ago as 1971, a law permitting a state-wide lottery was passed. At the time there were no casinos in Pennsylvania, but it led to increased calls for some to be established. However, for many years this was met with fierce resistance from both citizens and politicians who feared that organized crime could soon move in on the casino sector. It wasn’t until 2004 that Act 71 was passed and progress began to be made. The Act established the Pennsylvania Gaming Patrol Board and finally permitted casinos and racetracks to be set up in the state.
In the first year alone, the state’s seven newly established casinos raised a billion dollars in revenue, which generated over $760 million in taxes. The continuing financial success of casinos and other gambling led to more legislation being passed in 2017. This came in the form of the Truck Stop and Satellite Casino Bill. This served to set up 10 mini-casinos as well as expand gambling to truck stops, airports, and online. It’s the latter element that has paved the way so effectively for today’s booming iGaming sector in the state.
To see just how much iGaming has taken off one just has to look at some of the figures that have been generated in 2024. This August the total amount raised by iGaming was a staggering $183.7 million from an overall gaming total of around $525 million. This represented a 29% increase on the August 2023 figure and was also the second-highest monthly total to date. It was beaten by the March 2024 figure of $191.1 million in revenue.
Breaking down the August figures, by far the biggest contributors were the online slots which were responsible for $138.3 million, or slightly over 75% of the total. This hardly comes as much of a surprise. Casino slots are online nowadays, with a range of themes to appeal to an equally wide range of players. They might be movie fans wanting to play games linked to the Marvel franchise or have a fascination with Ancient Egypt – there will be a game for them somewhere.
Table games like roulette and blackjack raised $43.2 million in revenue while poker brought in a relatively small £2.2 million for the month. Online sports betting also seems to be booming like never before. Also in August, online betting in sportsbooks generated $25.5 million in revenue before tax. This was from a total of $45.4 million, an incredible increase of 48.4% from the previous year.
The nearest neighboring competitor to Pennsylvania in the gambling sphere is undoubtedly New Jersey. Indeed, this was the state that arguably did more than any other to get sports gambling legalized following the Supreme Court’s historic 2018 decision. Looking at their corresponding figures for August, this was also a bumper month for them. At $198 million in revenue, this was their best ever but was still dwarfed by Pennsylvania’s $525 million for the same period.
Meanwhile, in Delaware, the total sports betting revenue in the admittedly quiet month of August was just $10.3 million. That said, it was a 125.6% increase on the 2023 figure. As for iGaming, the total revenue was $164.3 million. Over $89 million of this came from slots with table games raising $74.6 million. It certainly looks like Pennsylvania will continue to put clear water between itself and nearby states in terms of revenue raised not just by iGaming but by all forms of gambling. But just how high those revenues are going to reach, we’ll just have to wait and see.
