Pennsylvania Casinos Reach All Time High of $300m in March

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Thursday, April 19th, 2018 | Written by Shane Larson

Pennsylvania’s casinos market reached a new milestone in March after generating more than $300.5 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR), representing an all time high for the state. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) made its proud announcement on Tuesday, with the GGR generated by its 12 casinos marking a 3.8% improvement over the same month a year earlier, and beating the previous record set in March 2013 of $296.7 million.

The Keystone State subsequently collected $128 million by way of gambling taxes, with slot machine winnings taxed at a massive 54%, and table games at a less restrictive 16%.

Long-term Trend Reversal

From the $300.5 collected in March, $79.2 million was accounted for by table games, representing a slight 0.48% decrease year-over-year. Slots revenues, on the other hand, jumped by 5.41% to $221.4 million, with all twelve casinos posting gains compared to the previous month, and all but three reporting year-on-year growth.

March’s result marks a reversal in a long term trend noted in Pennsylvania, as over the past year table games had been helping to propel the market to growth, while the popularity of slot machine play was waning. In February, for instance, table game earnings spiked at 11.24%, with the trend having been expected to continue into March, instead of which they ultimately fell well below expectations. By contrast, following several months of year-over-year contractions, the state’s casinos surprisingly booked their biggest slots win in several years.

Market Breakdown

Parx Casino led the market with revenues of $55 million in March, up by 9.9% versus the same month in 2017, followed by Sands Casino Resort with $47m (-3.31%), Rivers Casino with $34m (11.08%), and SugarHouse Casino with $28.7m (3.62%).

The next tier of casinos was headed by Harrah’s Philadelphia, whose GGR totaled $24.7m in March, down by -1.15% from a year ago, followed by Hollywood Casino on $23.7m (1.75%), The Meadows Casino on $23.44m (4.07%), and Mohegan Sun Pocono on $22.75m (4.06%).

Finally, Mount Airy Casino Resort generated $15.5m, down by -5.88% year-over-year, followed by Presque Isle Downs on $11.9m (11.02%), Valley Forge Casino on $11.57m (10.54%), and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin on $3.23m (2.31%).

Slots/Table Games GGR y-o-y

Parc’s Casino: Slots $37.5m (+9.01%), Table games $17.2m (+11.90%)
Sand’s Casino Resort: Slots $27.8m (+3.10%), Table games $18.9m (-11.40%)
Rivers Casino: Slots $26.6m (+9.45%), Table games $6.9m (+17.82%)
The Meadows Casino: Slots $19.8m (+2.95%), Table games $3.6m (+10.61%)
SugarHouse Casino: Slots $17.9m (+4.82%), Table games $10.8M (+1.69%)
Harrah’s Philadelphia: Slots $19m (+2.33%), Table games $5.7m (-11.20%)
Hollywood Casino: Slots $20m (+1.24%), Table games $3.7m (+4.64%)
Mohegan Sun Pocono: Slots $19.1m (+6.42%), Table games $3.6m (-6.91%)
Mount Airy Casino: Slots $11.9M (-1.40%), Table games $3.5m (-18.39%)
Presque Isle Downs: Slots $10.6m (+11.53%), Table games $1.3m (+7.08%)
Valley Forge Casino: Slots $8.2m (+13.64%), Table games $3.3M (+3.54%)
Lady Luck Casino: Slots $2.7m (-0.08%), Table games $499,751 (+17.70%)

Expanded Gambling Competition

Three quarters of Pennsylvania’s casinos may have posted annual gains in March, but they are likely to face increasing challenges after the state’s gaming-expansion gathers momentum, complete with slot machines placed at airport terminal lounges, and truck stops across the state. Ten “mini-casinos” have also been approved, with each venue entitled to offer 750 slot machines and 30 table games a piece, representing a significant threat to the operations of Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos when they start popping up.

Interestingly, a PGCB auction held on Wednesday failed to attract any further bidders for Category 4 satellite licenses, although five earlier auctions managed to raise $127 million. The last round held on April 4th, for instance, saw Penn National Gaming secure a license for $10.5m, or $3m more than the minimum required price of $7.5m. The operator had also acquired another license back in January in a prime location with a 15-mile radius in York County, and as Penn National VP of Public Affairs Eric Schippers commented at the time:

“It was an investment we felt like we had to make to protect a major market for our casino.”

Record Month All Round

Pennsylvania was not the only US market experience record revenues in March, with Maryland, Ohio, and Michigan also posting record highs last month. Helping to explain some of the surge in activity was unseasonably warm temperatures, as well as an extra Saturday in this year’s calendar compared to March of 2017.

The ultimate result was Maryland’s six casinos generating $150 million in March versus the previous high of $141.1 million set in March of 2017. Similarly, Ohio’s four casinos and six racinos collected $81.7 million and $96.4 million respectively, both figures of which are monthly records; while Detroit’s three casinos took $138.6 million, marking a $3.3 million improvement over the city’s previous monthly best.