Sports betting in Pennsylvania surpassed $3.5B in 2020

© Shutterstock

Sports betting handled more than $3.5 billion in Pennsylvania last year, while sportsbooks and online casinos earned more than $100 million in revenue, according to PlayPennsylvania.com analysts.

Pennsylvania’s retail and online sportsbooks experienced $3.3 billion in online wagering, $3.6 billion in wages, and $189.7 million in taxable revenue while collecting $64.5 million in state taxes.

In December, sportsbooks accepted $548.6 million in wagers. December’s handle was 60.1 higher than the previous year, and taxable revenue spiked 199.4 percent.

Bets were 11.5 percent higher than November. Taxable operator revenue was $3.3 million less than November.

“Online betting, both on sports and online casino games, have been a crucial silver lining to what was overall a rough year for Pennsylvania’s gaming industry,” Dustin Gouker, PlayPennsylvania.com lead analyst, said. “Obviously, the growth online has come unfortunately as the retail market has faced pandemic-related shutdowns. But without the increase in online revenue, there is no telling how much weaker a position the entire industry would be in right now.”

For the year, online casinos collected $154.6 million in state taxes and generated $680.2 million in revenue.

In December, online casinos and poker generated $71.6 million in gross operator revenue and collected $19.3 million in state taxes.