All About Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

The experts at PennStakes.com assembled this guide to explain the terms surrounding Pennsylvania sports betting financial figures. These include the terms handle, revenue, gross revenue, and tax collections.

The sports betting market in Pennsylvania includes retail sportsbooks at the commonwealth’s casinos as well as mobile sports betting apps.

Overall, Pennsylvania has a sweeping array of legalized gambling options. The commonwealth has legalized traditional casino gambling and online casino gambling (slots and table games); sports wagering, both in-person and online; live and internet poker; video gambling terminals at truck stops; and fantasy sports. Pennsylvania also has horse racing and the lottery but those financial results are not included in the commonwealth’s monthly gaming report. 

In sports betting language, handle is the terms for all sports wagers placed in the state during any month (or year). The handle is broken down into retail bets, placed in person, or online handle. In Pennsylvania, bettors wager hundreds of millions of dollars each month. The vast majority of those bets are placed by people using online Pennsylvania sportsbook apps via computers or mobile devices, such as smart phones.

Revenue is what is left to the gambling operators after winnings are paid out. However, many states allow deductions resulting from promotions and bonuses to customers from the revenue total before the tax rate is applied. In Pennsylvania, the taxable revenue is called Gross Revenue in the commonwealth’s financial reports. 

In Pennsylvania, sports betting Gross Revenue is taxed at a relatively high tax rate of 36% (34% state & 2% local). But operators can deduct promotions and bonuses to customers before the tax rate is applied.

In Pennsylvania, retail sports gambling began in 2018 and online sports wagering began in 2019.

Pennsylvania Sports Betting, March vs. February

Total HandleMobile Handle Gross Revenue
March $800.718M $759.445M $45.582M
February $661.741M $627.486M $30.253M
Change Up 21.0% Up 21.0% Up 50.7%

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle and Revenue: March 2024

The arrival of March Madness helped produced record-breaking total gaming revenue and sizable month-over-month improvements in sports betting and iGaming handle in the Keystone State last month.

Overall, March’s total gaming revenue figure between sports betting, iGaming and casino finished up at $554,625,294. That was 11.1% higher than February’s total of $499,093,210 and knocking off December 2023’s total of $534,215,808 as the state’s all-time recordholder.

As for Pennsylvania sports betting, the Keystone State’s total handle of $800,718,332 represented a 21% jump from February’s total of $661,740,812, according to figures reported by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The gross sports betting revenue (taxable) rose 50.7% in a month-over-month comparison, from $30,252,627 in February to $45,581,570 last month. As far as taxes were concerned, Pennsylvania sports betting chipped in $15,497,734 in March, with $14,392,932 of that coming from the state’s mobile wagering operators, capping off a memorable month in the Keystone State.

As far as casino highlights, Pennsylvania brought in a record $135,519,554 in interactive slots gross revenue, up 7.7% from February. That was the second month in a row that this category reset its state revenue record.

Pennsylvania Mobile Sports Betting History

Time Frame
Share Report

PA Sports Betting Revenue

Logo
Month Handle Revenue Hold Taxes
March 2024$759,445,204$42,332,1515.57%$14,392,932
February 2024$627,486,195$28,153,8364.49%$9,572,304
January 2024$808,788,638$66,006,1258.16%$22,442,083
December 2023$870,372,393$67,163,8027.72%$22,835,693
November 2023$876,754,839$10,319,1551.18%$3,508,513
October 2023$773,164,248$68,534,5698.86%$14,638,165
September 2023$672,861,548$32,059,9554.76%$10,900,385
August 2023$367,172,895$19,284,2925.25%$6,556,659
July 2023$316,089,466$29,127,0439.21%$9,903,195
June 2023$349,359,460$23,060,0756.60%$7,840,425
May 2023$460,189,894$37,060,0468.05%$12,600,416
April 2023$536,265,702$34,484,5586.43%$11,724,750
March 2023$667,464,497$45,733,8746.85%$15,549,517
February 2023$555,793,862$38,489,7156.93%$13,086,503
January 2023$719,700,379$36,249,5505.04%$12,324,847
December 2022$704,782,411$48,156,2696.83%$16,373,132
November 2022$735,523,025$48,219,7686.56%$16,394,721
October 2022$732,359,162$34,445,3974.70%$11,711,435
September 2022$596,714,671$42,966,0887.20%$14,608,470
August 2022$333,098,950$30,287,4419.09%$10,297,730
July 2022$311,525,077$22,640,7997.27%$7,697,872
June 2022$363,964,491$11,446,0953.14%$3,891,672
May 2022$457,947,928$32,257,4357.04%$10,967,528
April 2022$536,143,163$30,710,8595.73%$10,441,692
March 2022$666,981,930$25,432,2123.81%$8,646,952
February 2022$558,109,050-$1,470,686-0.26%-$500,033
January 2022$737,442,937$26,384,2133.58%$8,970,633
December 2021$693,270,171$16,061,2642.32%$5,460,830
November 2021$704,074,632$55,047,5087.82%$18,716,153
October 2021$714,094,431$18,483,9372.59%$6,284,538
September 2021$527,438,189$21,043,2393.99%$7,154,701
August 2021$318,131,156$14,700,5134.62%$4,998,174
July 2021$275,449,861$17,162,6096.23%$5,835,287
June 2021$379,267,760$29,288,7107.72%$9,958,161
May 2021$407,398,753$22,505,2105.52%$7,651,771
April 2021$439,065,648$21,488,3204.89%$7,306,029
March 2021$514,336,353$25,981,5155.05%$8,833,715
February 2021$469,708,926$13,408,3652.85%$4,558,844
January 2021$579,941,653$29,939,6685.16%$10,179,487
December 2020$535,209,739$32,892,6216.15%$11,183,491
November 2020$447,418,449$31,185,6566.97%$10,603,123
October 2020$472,276,003$30,470,2566.45%$10,359,887
September 2020$414,100,359$1,147,3670.28%$390,105
August 2020$321,554,131$15,438,2734.80%$5,249,013
July 2020$155,354,508$6,878,1314.43%$2,338,565
June 2020$88,313,028$6,759,4297.65%$2,298,206
May 2020$77,510,033$4,831,5016.23%$1,642,710
April 2020$46,015,988$2,906,6336.32%$988,255
March 2020$118,332,822$6,231,6895.27%$2,118,774
February 2020$294,127,503$4,093,7281.39%$1,391,868
January 2020$308,605,690$17,922,8855.81%$6,093,781
December 2019$297,445,045$8,396,9582.82%$2,854,966
November 2019$266,740,919$11,426,3974.28%$3,884,975
October 2019$198,688,269$10,307,1585.19%$3,504,434
September 2019$158,154,361$9,269,5195.86%$3,151,637
August 2019$83,209,317$2,540,1993.05%$863,668
July 2019$38,998,648$665,7981.71%$226,371
June 2019$19,326,220$369,1331.91%$125,505
May 2019$573,163$38,7536.76%$13,176
Total $26,459,633,743 $1,418,417,576 5.36% $473,598,389

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle, Revenue and Taxes FAQs

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Editorial Staff

The experts at PennStakes who bring you the latest updates in Pennsylvania sports betting and online casinos. We pull together decades of experience to give you analysis as well as comparisons of the best PA online gambling apps.

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