As combined gaming revenue throughout the state increased 15.5% in May over the same month last year, it marked the first time more than $600 million was generated during a single month, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced. Area casinos in Luzerne and Monroe counties also saw a bump in May.
The gaming board reported combined total revenue generated from all forms of gaming and fantasy contests of $601,833,369 during May, according to the monthly report.
Mohegan Pennsylvania in Plains Twp. saw revenue increase 10.6% in May over the same time last year — from $19,080,466 to $21,098,751 — aided by a 32% increase in sports gaming revenue, gaming board officials said. The casino also experienced a 2.9% increase in retail slot machine revenue and $15.6% jump in retail table games revenue.
Mount Airy Casino Resort in Paradise Twp. reported a 1.2% increase — from $20,709,449 to $20,963,652 — fueled by a 38% spike in retail table games revenue. The casino also had a 2.8% increase in retail slot machine revenue. Sports wagering revenue at Mount Airy was down 34.4%, according to the gaming board.
Doug Harbach, director of communications for the PGCB, uses slot machine revenue as the gauge to determine the financial health of a casino.
“The numbers I look at for how well a casino is doing tends to be more on the slots area because those stay pretty steady,” he said. “You can see great fluctuations in table games numbers based on whether or not a player or two did very well. We see the same thing in sports wagering — if the bettors had a really good month, you can see the revenue go down compared to other months, even if the wagering amount is the same or maybe even more.”
Harbach believes the amenities offered by Mohegan Pennsylvania and Mount Airy play to their favor.
“I think the casinos up there continue to do a good job of attracting customers, not only to come in and gamble but also to pull them in the door for other reasons, whether it’s food, overnight accommodations or entertainment, and that can always turn into more dollars for the gambling business,” he said.
iGaming increased 33.8% across the state over the year — continuing a recent trend, Harbach noted. Locally, Mohegan Pennsylvania had a 98.5% increase while Mount Airy saw a 27.5% drop.
“We’ve seen, over the last three years, a continual uptick in the revenue for iGaming — the casino-type games played on a phone, iPad or personal computer,” Harbach said. “Those who like to participate in legalized gambling that we regulate are becoming more and more comfortable using these sites.”
Additionally, Harbach noted the increase in slot game revenue benefits homeowners throughout the state.
“When we see the retail slot revenue numbers and the online slot revenue numbers growing, that’s good for all Pennsylvanians who own a home because, in the end, that will increase the amount of money that goes toward providing a school property tax reduction,” he said.
Harbach also recognized the importance of offering a range of resources to promote responsible gaming as the opportunity to bet is readily available at people’s fingertips.
“We continue to see some uptick in the amount of individuals who come to us to exclude themselves from either entering a casino or gambling online,” he said. “Problem gambling is something this board has looked at and we’ve made sure that tools were in place from day 1. The more you make gaming easily available to individuals, the more important it is to make sure you have these things in place to help people.”