Low hold bites Pennsylvania sportsbooks despite over $850m in October handle
Below-average 6.8% win rate fuels drop to $58.1m in monthly gross revenue for Keystone State operators before promotional deductions
US sports bettors have been cashing in this fall and Pennsylvania sportsbooks were not immune to the trend in October according to new data from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), which reported just $58.1m in monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) despite strong wagering volume.
October handle amounted to $858.1m, which registered as just a few thousand dollars short of the high-water mark for 2024 set back in January and a 3.5% year-on-year (YOY) increase from $829m last October.
Statewide hold, however, was a meager 6.8% – well below the longstanding industry average of around 8% and a drop of five full percentage points from September’s headline-grabbing 11.8% win rate.
Gross revenue plummeted 39.3% month-over-month (MOM) as a result, with bettors cleaning up in October after a rough start to the football season.
To add insult to injury Pennsylvania operators handed out $30.8m in October promotional credits, giving way to $27.4m in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), a 43.1% YOY drop from $48.2m during the same period of 2023.
Tax receipts accordingly took a hit as well as operators sent just $9.3m in tax payments back to the state, the first month since November 2023 that Keystone State’s tax coffers didn’t receive at least $10m.
Turning to operators, FanDuel continued to occupy the top spot, generating $28.1m in AGR on $348.6m in handle.
DraftKings, meanwhile, maintained its clear second position in the pecking order after accepting just under $225m in cumulative wagers. But its AGR was just $5.8m.
BetMGM grabbed the final spot on the podium at $63.8m in handle and $721,914m in AGR.