Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania sportsbooks failed to follow the lead of neighbouring New Jersey during November, as online casinos and poker rooms continued their hot streak.

Another high was reached during the month for the latter pair, albeit fractionally, as $59.77 in gross operator revenue was recorded, that was up from $59.76m produced during the prior month. Revenue produced $16.2m in state taxes.

Online table games and slots generated $57.4m in revenue on $2.3bn in bets, which is up from $2.2bn in bets in October. Rivers Philadelphia, which includes PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers casinos, topped the online casino market with $16.6m in revenue.

“Online casinos have become one of Pennsylvania’s most reliable revenue streams,” said Valerie Cross, analyst at PlayPennsylvania.com. “As winter takes hold and retail casinos closed, the best months for online casinos are almost assuredly yet to come.”

Pennsylvania sportsbooks produced their second best monthly handle performance and set a new revenue mark during the period, a result dubbed “surprising” by analysts due to the all-jurisdiction recorded by the near-by Garden State.

Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks reached $491.9m in November, which is up 35.7 per cent from $316.5m in November 2019, but fell short of October’s $525.8m record.

Operator revenue reached a record $48.5m, topping $47.8m from a month earlier, and was up 235.8 per cent from $17.5m in November 2019. November revenue yielded $12.7m in state taxes.

“So much has worked in favour of Pennsylvania’s online sportsbooks this fall, but a lack of NBA, NHL, and college basketball games, along with the struggles of Penn State, an Eagles bye week, and a Steelers game postponed to December, conspired to slow bettors in November,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst at PlayPennsylvania.com

“With record revenue and the second-best handle in state history, it was still a great month for the industry. And I suspect that Pennsylvania will be back to setting record handles again in December.”

Online betting accounted for 91 per cent of the state’s handle, up from 89.8 per cent in October. FanDuel Sportsbook/Valley Forge Casino remained the market leader with $176.7m in online bets, down 2.3 per cent from $181m wagered in October. December.”

“November’s results show that each state is different in what are unprecedented times, and the relatively high win rate by sportsbooks may have dissuaded some bettors,” added Cross. 

“Ultimately, though, record revenues are particularly important for the industry and for the state, which is relying on online gaming revenue more than ever.”