Pennsylvania retail sportsbooks are presumably happy to close the door on the first quarter of 2025 and turn the page. Collectively, they finished with just a 4% hold in March, according to figures released this week by the state’s gaming control board.
Operators have had a tough go in 2025. The Philadelphia Eagles put a drag on January revenue by reaching Super Bowl LIX and then cratered the house in February with a title win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The public won nearly $2.9 million on top of its $30.2 million wagered in person in February.
A chalk-heavy NCAA Tournament Final Four did sportsbooks few favors in March, though the retail operators were able to claim about $1.5 million from $36.6 million wagered. The end result for the first three months was a paltry $902,296 in revenue and 0.8% hold from $109.6 million handle statewide.
The $842.9 million wagered overall in the Keystone State for March — including the more popular mobile betting — ranked eighth out of 77 months all-time, and it was the 11th time monthly handle topped $800 million. Sportsbooks in Pennsylvania did not escape the nationwide drag caused by the four No. 1 seeds reaching San Antonio — the overall hold was 5.8% as they collected $49.2 million in gross revenue.
The state was able to levy taxes on $27 million in adjusted gross revenue after promotional deductions and the federal excise tax and collected $9.2 million in receipts.
Pennsylvania has now joined New York and Illinois as the only states to surpass $700 million in tax revenue since June 2018, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional Sports and Amateur Protection Act and allowed sports betting to expand on a state-by-state basis beyond Nevada.
In a word: rough
Seven of Pennsylvania’s 17 retail sportsbooks were in the red for the calendar year through the end of March, and only four finished in the black each of the first three months. Five venues took a loss in March, with Live! in Pittsburgh paying out $64,411 on top of the $1.2 million wagered by the public.
Revenue plummeted 90.3% compared to the first quarter of 2024, when retail operators had a 7.4% win rate and nearly $9.3 million in revenue. March revenue tumbled 54.7% compared to last year, while handle dipped 11.4%.
Rivers Philadelphia has by fared the best of any brick-and-mortar venue thus far with $708,334 in winnings; its Pittsburgh counterpart with $404,255 is the only other location above $200,000. Valley Forge is at the opposite end of the spectrum, paying out $499,290 above its $7.1 million worth of bets accepted.
Spend to defend market share
Promotional spend among Pennsylvania’s 10 mobile operators totaled $22.2 million in March, up 22.2% from a year ago. FanDuel maintained its dominant market share at just over 40% of the $806.3 million wagered online — a handle of $325.7 million — and showed its customary willingness to spend to protect that status.
It offered $9.2 million in credits and bonuses, up 17.2% from March 2024, which represented nearly half its $18.6 million in gross winnings. The public limited FanDuel to a 5.7% hold, its lowest since posting a sub-5% win rate in November 2023.
DraftKings was runner-up in all key metrics — gross revenue ($13.8 million), handle ($207 million), and promotional spend ($5.1 million), though its year-over-year percentage increase in outlay was higher than FanDuel’s at 22.9%. DraftKings has not been shy about trying to shore up its No. 2 spot — promotional spend in the first quarter in Pennsylvania was up 42.6% to $22.3 million.
BetMGM reclaimed the final handle podium spot from Fanatics after processing $77.6 million worth of wagers. That was a 52.1% improvement from last year, and BetMGM also enjoyed a $4.9 million positive revenue swing from February after posting a 5.2% hold to claim just over $4 million in March winnings. Its $2.1 million promotional outlay was up only 5.3% versus March 2024.
Fanatics was a comfortable fourth in handle at $57.9 million, but that was well off its record $95.2 million wagered in February that came with aggressive promotional spend and/or big bettors. Its $2.8 million in credits and bonuses was down 35.2% from February but also more than three times higher than the $940,130 outlay in March 2024.
Fanatics had big year-over-year jumps in terms of handle and gross revenue percentage increases, with the former rising 87.6% and the latter 129.6%. Its $3.9 million in winnings trailed only the $4.2 million claimed last November.
Despite the modest sportsbook earnings in March, gambling overall in the state achieved revenue records, thanks largely to swelling online casino numbers.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana …
Though Louisiana doesn’t compare with Pennsylvania for betting activity, it too reported its March numbers and became the 16th state to clear $10 billion total handle in the post-PASPA era, powered by a $386.4 million handle figure for March. That was the fourth-highest handle month in state history and was up 10.4% from last year.
Sportsbooks in Louisiana bucked the trends of low holds, attaining an 8.2% win rate to claim $31.8 million in gross revenue. It is the third-highest hold among 19 states that have reported figures for March.
Revenue was down 15.7% from last year, with the biggest falloff coming in parlays. The $16.3 million won from multi-leg bets was down 32.3% from last March and marked the first time since last August the figure was below $20 million.
