By John Finnerty

CNHIHarrisburg Bureau

Gamblers placed almost $1.5 billion in wagers and generated $30 million in revenue for the state in the first full year of legalized sports gambling.

In December alone, gamblers wagered more than $342 million on sports bets in Pennsylvania, according to the Gaming Control Board.

The key reason for the Pennsylvanias year-end momentum is its growing roster of online sportsbooks, which combined to produce almost 87 percent of the states total December handle the amount wagered by gamblers, said Dustin Gouker, an analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com, a web site tracking the gambling industry.

That last two months of 2019 began to show us the real potential of the Pennsylvania market, Gouker said. Now that the online market is maturing, it is entirely possible that 2020 could bring in $4 billion or more in online and retail bets.

Pennsylvania will finish 2019 a distant third in total handle among all legal sports betting jurisdictions. New Jersey, the countrys No. 2, attracted $4.6 billion in bets in 2019. But Pennsylvanias haul in state taxes was more comparable to New Jersey, which generated revenue of $36.5 million. Nevada is still the top state for sports wagering revenue.

Pennsylvania is beginning to succeed where it wanted to most: making sports betting a significant revenue driver for the state, Gouker said. Its tax rate is significantly higher than every other state, which has slowed the industrys growth. But Pennsylvania is the most populous state to fully legalize sports betting, and that has proven to be too enticing for operators to ignore.

The Department of Revenue projected that sports wagering would generate $35.5 million in 2019-2020, said Jeffrey Johnson, a spokesman for the department. The state fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, rather than by the calendar year.

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Sports wagering provided almost $21 million in state tax in the first six months of this fiscal year, he said.

The tax revenue from sports wagering, while still significantly more than the state had been getting earlier in the year, actually dropped in December, compared to November, as gamblers took home more in winnings, leaving casinos with less profit for the state to tax, Gaming Control Board data shows.

Decembers bets produced $17.5 million in revenue down from Novembers $20.6 million win.

The states take in tax was $3.9 million in December, double what the state got in sports wagering tax in August, but still less than the $5 million in tax generated by sports betting in November.

Sports wagering winning and losing is going to be very volatile, said Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Gaming Control Board.

Gouker called the problem as double-edged sword for states because when gamblers win more, theres less casino revenue to tax. But if gamblers dont win often enough, theres the chance that they will become less likely to continue placing sports wagers.

Thirteen states including neighboring states, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia have sports betting. Close to half the states either have legal sports wagering or there is legislation moving to allow sports wagering, Auxier said.

This isnt just states having dreams of big revenue scores. They know better, he said.

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Gamblers bet $1.5 billion on sports in state last year - New Castle News