Pennsylvania Gaming Expansion Roll Out Gaining Pace

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Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 | Written by Shane Larson

Last October, Pennsylvania approved a huge gambling expansion allowing money wagering to take place online, and video gaming terminals to be placed at airports, truck stops, and a number of new smaller casinos across the state.

More than six months later, and the gambling expansion project is beginning to take shape, with the Keystone State officially launching its legal daily fantasy sports market on May 1st, and the PA Lottery rolling out its Keno video monitors at retail locations a week later. In the coming months, further upgrades to the state’s product line includes the introduction of virtual sports betting, and an iLottery app offering lottery games, as well as a number of other games designed to appeal to a wider audience.

Fantasy Sports Sites

Last Saturday, daily fantasy sports became legal in Pennsylvania, and while the game was previously tolerated in the state by authorities, operator are now required to hold a five-year license costing $50,000, and pay a 15% tax on the gross revenue they generate. Currently, there are six operators offering legal DFS contests in Pennsylvania (DraftKings, FanDuel Fantasy Draft, Boom Fantasy, DRAFT, FastPick, and SporstHub), with anyone playing on sites other than these considered to be breaking state law.

Pennsylvania now becomes the 19th US state to regulate fantasy sports, and as Kevin O’Toole, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), explains: “Pennsylvania residents that enter Fantasy Sports Contests can know that they are participating in a fair playing environment and assured that each licensed operator meets standards set out in the law and regulated by the Gaming Control Board.”

Keno

On Tuesday, May 8th, Keno was made available to state residents via electronic platforms located at bars, restaurants and retail outlets throughout the state, with games currently being run at a rate of 15 times an hour. In Keno, a player selects ten numbers from a grid of 80, and after 20 winning numbers are generated per game, players stand to win higher payouts depending upon the amount of numbers that they hit.

Similar to the lottery, players can see if they have won any money by checking their numbers at a Lottery website, or by having their tickets scanned by retailers. At present, more than 500 outlets have applied for licenses to offer Keno, and as of today around 8,200 tickets were being sold per hour. According to the state budget, the game should contribute $27 million during in first year of operation.

Virtual Sports

Using the same monitors used for Keno, retailers will also be able to offer virtual sports betting in the near future, with the sector expected to funnel a further $13 million towards the state budget per year. In Virtual Sports, players can place wagers on the outcome of simulated sporting events, such as horse racing, football, and tennis, with one of its main advantages over the real-world being that numerous events can take place each day. In fact, virtual sporting events are expected to run every five minutes or so.

These games are expected to launch in June, and help provide extra money for senior programs within the Lottery Fund, with Gov. Tom Wolf explaining last year: “This action allows us to protect our commitment to seniors and stabilize funding for those vital programs, while providing Lottery retailers, including bars and taverns, with a new source of revenue.”

iLottery App

Over the next few months, Pennsylvania is expected to launch an iLottery app allowing players to buy tickets to draws via their mobile phones, including the likes of Powerball, Mega Millions, Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 4 Life, Cash 5!, Match 6 Lotto, Treasure Hunt, and Millionaire Raffle. In addition, other lottery games will be made available, including scratch cards, and Fast Play games, but more possibilities have also been planned for the mobile client, including offering a range of electronic games for consumers.

What these new electronic games will not include, however, are games that would otherwise compete with those offered by traditional land-based casinos, such as roulette, slots, blackjack and poker, and as Lottery executive director Drew Svitko explained recently:

“These games are meant to appeal to a new audience. These are a lot closer to a game like Candy Crush than what people are accustomed to in a game like Powerball. These are meant to be engaging, entertaining, relevant games.”