Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks wagering drops, while online casinos surge

With virtually all sports being shut down since mid-March by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania’s sportsbook industry had another dismal month in April, while online casinos have experienced a bit of a surge.

The state’s sportsbooks took just $46 million in online bets during April, about $300 million less than analysts predicted before the virus hit, said Dustin Gouker, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.

“The growth in online gambling as well as betting on non-traditional sports are industry bright spots,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “But there just isn’t any way for Pennsylvania operators to compensate for such a dramatic loss of revenue, including at retail sportsbooks and land-based casinos, that can’t generate a single dollar right now.”

In a previous interview, he noted that what little betting has been going on since the pandemic hit has been futures, with bets on such things as who will win the 2021 Super Bowl and a few games that have occurred in other counties, such as South Korea, which has been holding crowd-less baseball games.

With most sports still on hold, he said, it doesn’t look like the industry will be rebounding anytime soon.

But with the bricks and mortar casinos closed people with an itch to gamble found their way to online casinos, which have been trending up. Online casinos and poker rooms brought in $43.1 million in revenue last month, up 77.4% from the record $24.3 million in March, and 121% over February’s $19.5 million.

Online table games and slots generated $1.4 billion in wagers in April, up from $871.6 million in March.