Pa. has record year for gaming revenue

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Pa. has record year for gaming revenue
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Despite a fiscal year that featured casinos closing down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported record revenue.

In a report released Monday, the PGCB said total revenue was $3.875 billion between July 1, 2020 and June 30, beating the previous mark of $3.309 billion set during the 2018-19 fiscal year.

With slot machines and table games shut down for most of the first month of the fiscal year, offerings such as Internet Gaming, sports wagering, fantasy sports and video gaming terminals helped with the bottom line.

The PGCB said "there has been significant growth in the nascent sports wagering and fantasy sports contests markets along with the establishing of both the iGaming and VGT markets."

The report said those four markets combined for about 33% of the total revenue in 2020-21.

Leading the way in iGaming was Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming Inc. The Hollywood Casino at Penn National's site had revenue of $291.2 million, a year-over-year increase of 657.52%. Overall, 10 of the state's operating casinos had iGaming operations with revenue of $897.2 million.

Sports wagering was led by Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Montgomery County, with revenue of $126.3 million. Penn National's The Meadows Casino in Washington County brought in $54.4 million and Hollywood Casino at Penn National raked in $27.56 for the second and third spots.

Another Penn National property, the Hollywood Casino Morgantown, had sports wagering revenue of just over $5 million. The Category 4 casino in Caernarvon Township is scheduled to open its brick-and-mortar operation later this year, but has already found a digital sportsbook partner in MGM. BetMGM was given permission to enter Pennsylvania last fall and unveiled its partnership with Hollywood Casino Morgantown in December after PGCB approval.

VGTs had revenue of $31.3 million, a 361% increase from the previous year. Marquee by Penn, which is owned by Penn National, was well in front of the pack at $23.5 million.

Slots have been the traditional revenue leader and they brought in $1.87 billion, an 11% increase from the previous year. Parx Casino in Bucks County was the leader in this category at $373.4 million. Hollywood Casino at Penn National brought in $159.8 million and The Meadows brought in $133.3 million.

Table games checked in at $721.7 million. Parx was the also the leader in this category at $174.4 million. Hollywood at Penn National was at $30.2 million and The Meadows at $23.9 million.