Just like other states setting records, Pennsylvania sports betting and iGaming figures for October were released Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) and the numbers just keep going up.
Pennsylvania sports betting and online casino numbers set new records with relative ease, according to the state report. It helped that there was an extra betting and iGaming weekend, and that the NBA and NHL joined the NFL as top Pennsylvania sports betting options.
Here are three takeaways from the Pennsylvania gambling October report:
iGaming Revenue an All-Time Monthly High
While the added weekend of sports betting action helped drive the wagering numbers, other gaming sectors reaped the benefits as well.
Pennsylvania online casino gaming gross revenue of $102.9 million set a new all-time high, going past the previous record of $101.25 million set in May 2021.
Total gaming and fantasy contests revenue generated $425.9 million, an increase of 33% in relation to this time last year.
The number also eclipsed the all-time monthly revenue high set in July of this year.
One More Weekend an Added Bonus
October was the third month this year that bettors had five college football Saturdays and five NFL Sundays to wager on and the numbers prove that when the calendar lines up that way, big numbers follow.
Earlier this year, January and May both had five Saturdays and five Sundays with the Keystone State setting its sports betting record in January at $615 million (that's the record that was just broken). Mississippi had $67.7 million in January which is also their current record.
January will ring in the New Year with another five weekends that will include NFL playoff betting, although college football will be down to just a handful of bowl games by then.
Pennsylvania Sports Betting, October vs. September
| Total Handle | Mobile Handle | Gross Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | $776.278M | $714.094M | $23.533M |
| September | $578.761M | $527.438M | $28.254M |
| Change | Up 34.1% | Up 35.4% | Down 16.7% |
Sports Wagering Continues to Thrive
Sports wagering handle in the Keystone State posted $776.27 million in October, the all-time single highest total thus far for the state, eclipsing $615.29 million in January of this year. The October handle was an increase of 34.1% over the $578.8 million wagered in September.
The October number also was $250.47 million more — a 47.6% increase — than October 2020 ($525.8 million).
Mobile sports betting in October was $714.1 million, up 35.4% from September ($527.4 million) and up 51.2% from October 2020 ($472.2 million). In October, mobile betting was 92.0% of the market.
October gross sports betting revenue was $23.5 million, down 16.7% from September ($28.3 million) and down 36.0% from October 2020 ($36.8 million).
This year’s October total handle for Pennsylvania is among the top 10 for any state since PASPA was struck down in 2018.
Bettors are going to their mobile devices and finally getting out of the house to visit retail sportsbooks and casinos as coronavirus restrictions are eased throughout the state, which has also helped the dollar figures increase.
