The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has released its revenue report for February, and it’s not pretty reading for sports betting operators.
Crypto Books Likely Fare Better than Pennsylvania Operators
Pennsylvania is home to the Philadelphia Eagles, who came out on top in America’s biggest sports betting event, the Super Bowl. The Eagles ran out comfortable victors over the Kansas City Chiefs and consigned PA bookmakers to a poor month.
Given the affinity of sports bettors, handle can fluctuate significantly when a team local to a jurisdiction has a run of favorable results. This is not a problem experienced by crypto sportsbooks, who operate across state borders and thus are not confined to one predominant fanbase.
The headline results are unsurprising, given the state’s affinity with the Eagles. Handle increased year-over-year by 14.4% to $756.9 million from February 2024’s total of $661.7 million.
Given the Eagles emerged victorious, hold percentage fell dramatically as the champions were a popular pick. The hold percentage statewide was just 4.5%, with total gross revenue of just shy of $34 million. Revenue fell 32.6% year-over-year, where February’s hold was 7.6% of the February 2024 $50.3 million.
Retail sportsbooks were the worst impacted, posting a revenue deficit of $2.9 million, whereas online sports betting did generate a profit of $10.4 million in taxable revenue. This is after the $26.5 million in promotions and deductions were taken off the adjusted gross revenue.
The overall taxable revenue reported was the lowest in three years, and three times lower than any other month in this fiscal year.
As has been a growing trend across the United States, FanDuel was the clear market leader in the state. The Flutter-owned betting operator, in partnership with Valley Forge Casino generated over $20 million in GGR from total handle of $285 million. Adjusted revenue fell 22.9% from February 2024, leaving $13.7 million.
BetMGM had a particularly poor month. In partnership with Hollywood Casino Morgantown, the company lost over $3 million after promotional deductions.
Europe Less Reliant on NFL
Unsurprisingly, data emerging from European betting markets is more positive for sports betting operators.
Portuguese regulator Turismo Portugal reported record-breaking revenue figures for the country’s online betting and gaming industries.
Gross earnings reached €323.0 million, showing impressive 42.1% year-over-year growth. The biggest growth driver was sports betting, which saw a 90.0% revenue increase from Q423, reaching €138.3 million.
Three-quarters of all bets placed in the quarter were on soccer, and the NFL was not in the top three. Basketball did make it into the top three, with the NBA accounting for over half of all basketball bets in the country.
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