Pennsylvanian Casinos with Record Revenues in 2017

2018 will be an even more successful year for the Pennsylvanian gambling industry.

Pennsylvania is one of the American states where gambling and related issues are constantly discussed, at least in the past few years. Finally, in November last year, the Governor finally signed the gambling bill. The state’s primary motive was to gather some extra funds which will make a contribution towards the budget, and experts feel that many states might soon follow.

There was serious opposition against online gambling legalisation, especially from Sheldon Adelson, who is one of the key players in the land-based casino market. He even threatened to halt all further investments and sell his land-based facilities if the state goes through with the gambling legalisation plan.

Many feared that his relationship with President Trump might have an impact on the legalisation of online gambling in Pennsylvania, but also on a federal level, and earlier last year it seemed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds the key to the issue, but it turned out that the bill was passed easier than it was expected.

Visitors Play Table Games more

When it comes to the state’s land-based casinos, they register increased revenues this years, despite the decline in revenues from slot games. It appears that Pennsylvanians and other visitors play more card and table games, while giving up on slots.

The 12 legally registered casinos in Pennsylvania generated £3.226 billion in 2017, which is a 0.4% increase compared to 2016 ($3.213 billion). The total revenue figure in 2015 was $3.17 billion. Even though the growth is minor, it is still significant, and this is a seventh year in a row where the revenue figure exceeded $3 billion. The state of Pennsylvania earned a total of $1.33 billion in tax revenues, mainly due to the high tax on slot games (56%).

Figures show that two thirds of the casinos in Pennsylvania registered a decrease in slot revenues, including the two most successful casinos Parx Casino and Sands Bethlehem, whereas Rivers Casino managed to earn more from slots in 2017.

When it comes to table games, the revenue growth amounted to 4.4%, up to $890.7 million. The two most successful casinos registered revenues above $500 million (Parx with $566.5 million and Sands Bethlehem with almost $546 million).

Four Casinos Have Been Fined

It is expected that 2018 will be even more successful for Pennsylvania, mostly thanks to the new gambling legislation. Penn National Gaming already got the first satellite casino licence and there will be a second auction on the 24^th of January.

The state lottery also has the right to launch online products, as long as they are not casino games, or designed to mimic casino games. Sources from the lottery claim that citizens will have access to online lottery services as early as this spring.

Pennsylvanian casinos may have had a successful year, but four of them have been fined by the Gaming Control Board. Holdings Acquisition Corporation, Mont Airy, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment and Woodlands Fayette are the four operators which are fined and the total amount of the fines that they are supposed to pay amounts to $62,500. Holdings Acquisition operates Rivers Casino and their fine alone amounts to $40,000. The fine is for violations to comply with the procedures for table games.