The historic entrance of two new operators to the Pennsylvania online poker market in late April helped snap a four-month slide in revenue in May, data from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show. Overall online poker revenue was $2.6 million, its highest since January.
BetMGM PA, operating under the Hollywood Casino license, recorded $279k in revenue, while Borgata PA and its Rivers-Philadelphia partner grossed $67k. That was enough for BetMGM and Borgata to snap up 10.5% and 2.5%, respectively, of a market where PokerStars PA (Mount Airy) had been the only participant since the market’s inception in late 2019.
For its part, PokerStars PA had $2.3 million in revenue, down slightly from April. But the operator’s performance was good enough to blunt what is expected to be several months of a year-over-year decline in revenue as it laps the pandemic year’s surge in online poker. PokerStars’ year-over-year revenue was down 51%, compared to 55.5% in April.
Pennsylvania’s online casino revenue hit a record high of $98.6 million, up from $90.3 million in April and nearly double from May 2020. Hollywood Casino stayed atop the field for the sixth consecutive month, growing its revenue to a record $41 million and market share to 42%, up from $33.8 million and 37% in April.
In second place, also for the sixth consecutive month, Rivers-Philadelphia increased its revenue to $26.9 million, up from $26.6 million. But the operator’s market share fell to 27.5%, down from 29.5%.
Valley Forge Casino held the third-place spot for the 13th consecutive month with $16.3 million in revenue, up from $14.8 million. Its market share was unchanged at 16.5%.
Among the smaller operators in the Keystone State, Wind Creek saw its revenue and market share nearly double to $1.2 million and 1.2%, up from $648k and 0.7%. Meanwhile, Parx Casino’s revenue and market share fell to $3.9 million and 4%, down from $4.6 million and 5%.
Sports betting rebounded slightly to $32.2 million, up from $31.3 million. Valley Forge Casino continued its dominance of the space with $17.6 million in revenue and a commanding 54.5% market share. Retail grew for the third consecutive month with $4.7 million in revenue, accounting for 12.8% of the total sports betting market, the highest mark since October 2020.
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