- Pennsylvania reported $5.21 billion in total gaming win for the year 2022.
- Sports betting revenue increased by 18% to $401.2 million and handle by 10.7% at $7.2 billion.
- Pennsylvania overtook New Jersey as the no. 2 richest-gaming state in 2022 by a mere $28K difference.
Pennsylvania topped the $5 billion mark in gambling revenue in 2022.
According to a report from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the combined win for slot machines, table games, VGTs, iGaming, sports betting, and fantasy contests during 2022 was $5.2 billion which was significantly better than 2021’s $4.7 billion output.
The increase in gambling win also translated to an increase in tax revenue remittance at $2.1 billion which is up from the $1.9 billion collected during the previous calendar year.
Slot machine revenue was the most profitable vertical with $2.4 billion in 2022 revenues. Next in rank was iGaming which generated $1.4 billion in wins while table games barely missed the billion-dollar mark with $990.6 million. Meanwhile, sports betting accounted for $401.2 million while VGTs and fantasy sports contests totaled $64.3 million.
Pennsylvania posts record $5.2B gaming revenue in 2022, becomes nation's second-richest gaming state https://t.co/4eWnHYLwjE
— Yogonet Gaming News (@YogonetNews) January 19, 2023
Sports Betting Also Doing Well
2022 was also a great year for legal Pennsylvania sports betting, with revenue increasing by almost 18% to $401.2 million and betting handle going up by 10.7% versus 2021 figures at $7.2 billion. Valley Forge Casino was the vertical leader in the state with a 40% increase at $210 million in revenue while Hollywood Casino at the Meadows was second with $76.2 million and Hollywood Casino at Penn National came in third with $21.6 million.
iGaming also improved last year with a 22.6% increase, with the state’s 10 iGaming operators combing for $1.4 billion in revenues. Hollywood Casino at Penn National led the state in this category with a massive $561.2 million and was followed by Rivers Casino Philadelphia with $326.4 million and Valley Forge with $255.5 million.
VGTs also posted a 5.26% revenue increase at $42 million while Fantasy Sports was the only gaming vertical to see a drop in 2022. That segment did 21% lesser in 2022 than in 2021 with a total of $22.3 million in revenue.
Second-Richest Gaming State in the U.S.
The battle for the title of the second-richest gaming state in the United States has always been a tight one between New Jersey and Pennsylvania with the former almost always emerging victorious being the more established market. But the Keystone State has gone from taking slices from the Garden State’s pie to overtaking it in the rankings.
With its record-breaking 2022, Pennsylvania surpassed New Jersey as the second-ranked richest gaming state in the U.S., behind perennial top-notcher Nevada. The Garden State also recently released its December figures and comparing both, the Keystone State wins this year’s battle by a mere $28,000 at $5,211,303.91 against New Jersey’s $5,211,272,456.
Of course, Pennsylvania’s gaming industry has expanded since its debut. The state’s 2017 Expanded Gaming Act authorized online gaming, sports betting, fantasy sports, and video gaming terminals (VGTs). The Keystone State also allowed the issuance of Category 4 casino licenses to gambling properties that already have a flagship casino in the state.
Pennsylvania Gambling Continues to Grow
The prospect of Pennsylvania’s gaming industry growing even more is very high. Not only is the gambling industry in the Keystone State diversifying right now but it is continually expanding with existing casinos in the state investing a combined $250 million in renovations since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to attract more customers.
Likewise, the state continues to issue new casino licenses and new casinos continue to emerge. Earlier this week, Parx Casino announced that it would be opening its Category 4 casino in Shippensburg on February 3rd. Although Category 4 casinos are considered mini-casinos, having a handful of them would still combine to add a sizable portion of the state’s bottom line figure.
Then there is also the state’s online gaming expansion. Last month, the Pennsylvania Gaming and Control Board re-opened its bidding process for three iGaming operator licenses. These iGaming operator licenses are issued to entities that will operate internet slot machines, table games, and poker, even without a brick-and-mortar presence in the state.
