Pennsylvania Sports Betting Posts Record Handle in December with $548.6M

Article ByStan Fox

January 22, 2021

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Posted in: Pennsylvania Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

Pennsylvania bade farewell to 2020 by posting an all-time high sports betting handle of $548.6 million in December. The previous best for the state was $525.8 million posted in October 2020. The December 2020 handle was also an increase of 60.1% from December 2019, which saw $342.6 million.

According to the state report released Tuesday, total revenue made by Pennsylvania sportsbooks was $45.3 million. Of this revenue, only $34.1 million was taxable for the state, as $11.3 million was deducted in promo credit. This figure is down 8.8% from November’s record high of $37.4 million. Yet, the state managed to draw a considerable $12.3 million in taxes from that.

Overall in 2020, the Keystone State saw more than $3.5 billion in total bets placed across online and retail sportsbooks.

Pennsylvania, Third Largest Market!

In December, New Jersey – the national leader of the sports betting industry – posted the highest sports betting handle ($931.6 million) by any state in the US ever. Nevada’s numbers are yet to come, and the Silver State is likely to post the second-highest handle, as usual, falling slightly short of New Jersey. Therefore, this puts Pennsylvania as the third-largest sports betting market in the US. In the whole of 2020, Pennsylvania saw a handle of $3.6 billion after Nevada’s $4 billion and New Jersey’s $6 billion.

However, though Pennsylvania continues to flourish as the third-largest sports betting market, the Keystone State is taking home more money than industry-leading New Jersey in taxes. Despite November not continuing with the state’s record number, December saw a huge increase in Pennsylvania sports betting and made more than $10 million in taxes, among the highest on record.

Online Sports Betting Sees Unprecedented Growth

Of the $548.6 million in total handle, almost 97.6% or $535.2 million was wagered online. Usually, the mobile handle in Pennsylvania sports betting remains north of 90% mark. However, December’s share further swelled due to casino closures amid the coronavirus-led measures. Mobile sports betting revenue also saw unprecedented growth, both before and after promos. Overall revenue was $44.2 million, with taxable revenue of $32.9 million.

Of all the online operators, DraftKings and FanDuel were the leading the way. New York-based FanDuel, which is partnered with Valley Forge Casino, saw a record-setting month with $207.6 million in handle. However, due to a record amount of promo credits ($5.6 million), FanDuel’s December revenue fell to $7.1 million from a record-setting $15.1 million in November.

For the fourth straight month, DraftKings crossed the $100 million handle. The Boston-based company took $131.5 million in wagers, with a revenue of $5.4 million, a decrease from $6.9 million in November. The Keystone State’s online sportsbook handed out $11.3 million in promos.

Still, the state drew $11.2 million from sports betting taxes, in addition to $657,852 for local taxes.

Online Operators’ Market Share Dips

However, despite the impressive performance, both sportsbook giants DraftKings and FanDuel saw a decrease in their online market share in Pennsylvania. FanDuel’s digital market share dipped to 38.8% from 39.5% in November, while DraftKings’ loss was merely 0.1% to 24.5% in December.

Barstool sportsbook was the third biggest leader in Pennsylvania with 13.4% of the digital handle, up 1% from November. BetRivers witnessed the market share for its two online sportsbooks dip to 9.1% in December from 10.6% in November.