Pennsylvania sees a drop in gambling revenue due to a reduction in sports betting in February.

 February saw a 4.4% year-on-year fall in Pennsylvania's gambling revenue, with the state's sports betting sector reaching its lowest monthly revenue total in three years.
 February winnings from Pennsylvania's casinos
 Pennsylvania earned $437.6 million (£367.9 million) from commercial gaming.  This was 9.8 percent lower than January 2025 levels and fell short of $499.1 million in February of last year.

 Sportsbooks face challenges
 The most striking statistic from yesterday's (18 March) data released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is again another decline in income from sports betting.  For three months in a row, the industry has witnessed a fall in sales, with February's loss being the most noticeable.

 Revenue from sports betting fell to $7.4 million, a 75.3% decrease, the lowest level since February 2022, when a loss of $442,847 was reported.  The total amount was lower than expected due to a $2.9 million loss in the retail market, however online wagering did earn $10.4 million in income.

 Players spent 14.4% more than last year, but that wasn't enough to prevent the drop.  In February, a grand total of $756.9 million was gambled on sports, with $30.2 million coming from retail sportsbooks and $726.7 million coming from internet handle.

 Consequently, the state's monthly hold dropped to only 0.98 percent.

 When breaking down operators by partnership, just five of them turned a profit that month.  With a hold percentage of 4.82% and $284.5 million in bets, FanDuel and Valley Forge Casino Resort posted $13.7 million, which is much higher than any other active operator.

 Alternatively, another FanDuel partner, Live! Casino Pittsburgh, brought in $145,583 as the second-highest income.  There was a 16.43% hold based on a handle of $866,247.

 After that, Rivers Casino and its sportsbook BetRivers came in second, with a hold percentage of 0.96% and a total of $115,186 off a $12.1 million handle.  Aside from Mohegan Lehigh Valley, the only other operators that had positive income were Presque Isle Downs and TwinSpires.

 A number of other prominent operations also recorded losses; they included the partnerships of DraftKings and Hollywood Casino at the Meadows as well as BetMGM and Hollywood Casino Morgantown.

 Increase of 12.3% in online casino income
 This led to further encouraging headlines in Pennsylvania regarding online casinos.  The industry's February revenue was $207.6 million, an increase of 12.3 percent year over year.

 Revenue from online slot machines increased 22.6% to $154.3 million, fuelling expansion.  Internet poker brought in $2.4 million, up just 0.4% from the previous year, while online table games saw a decline of 10.1% to $50.9 million.

 As far as operators go, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and its affiliated internet gambling sites appear to be unstoppable.  Despite a 2.7% year-over-year decline, its online gaming revenue surpassed $89.5 million in February.

 Valley Forge Casino Resort was also in the lead, with a 10% increase in revenue to $81.4 million.  The third place finisher was Rivers Casino Philadelphia, with $50.7 million in igaming revenue, a 5% increase from 2024.

 Decreases in both online and land-based table games
 There was a general downturn in Pennsylvania's land-based gaming activities.

 At $186.3 million, this was 8.1% less than the previous year, even though retail slots are still the principal source of gaming revenue.  71.2 million was a 7.2% decline in revenue from land-based table gaming.

 Revenue from video gaming terminals (VGTs) fell 1.2% to $3.2 million, while revenue from daily fantasy sports jumped 17.5% to $1.5 million.

 In February, Pennsylvania received a total of $202.5 million in tax revenue from all types of gaming.  Because of the significant decline in income, only $2.7 million of this came from sports betting.

 A total of $91.8 million, $94.2 million from retail slot machines, and $11.9 million from land-based table games were taxed by online casinos.  At the same time, $224,393 went for fantasy sports and $1.7 million went towards VGT tax.