There have already been a number of states that have announced new sports betting handle records in September. Pennsylvania was the latest state to announce its total, but the state fell just shy of setting a new handle record.
The total sports betting handle in September was $578.8 million, which was an increase of 66% from what was reported in August. There has also been a huge jump in year-to-year handle as the 2020 report was just $462.7 million.
Pennsylvania had the second highest sports betting handle total in the history of the state. The record for sports betting handle came in January of this year as the state had a total handle of $615 million.
New Jersey remains the clear leader when it comes to US sports betting, and that state became the first to post a monthly handle of over $1 billion. Pennsylvania has spent some time in the second spot on that list, but it has consistently remained in the top four.
The gross revenue in Pennsylvania was also up for the month of September, and that provides more tax revenue to the state. Pennsylvania saw a gross revenue of $28.2 million in September, which was an increase of nearly 57 percent from August.
With the 2021 NFL season just getting underway in September, there is a strong possibility that Pennsylvania will set a new state record at some point by the end of this year. The state, along with the rest of the US, had some rough months during the summer but is now back on track.
Online Leads the Way
Pennsylvania has a large and competitive online sports betting market, and that form of betting continues to lead the way. The online sports betting handle in September was $527.4 million, which made up 91 percent of the total.
Online sports betting operators in Pennsylvania continue to offer some terrific promotions, and bettors took advantage of nearly $20 million in promotion money in September. This hurts the overall revenue numbers, but it continues to attract new customers to sign up for an account.
Retail sportsbooks are picking up some steam as well, and the lack of severe COVID-19 restrictions has helped bettors return. There is not a ton of room for growth in the Pennsylvania sports betting industry in terms of operators, but new customers continued to sign up.
FanDuel Takes Top Spot
FanDuel Sportsbook was once again the online sports betting leader in the state of Pennsylvania in September. The total online handle was $183.7 million, giving the site 34.8 percent of the market share.
DraftKings continues to provide some competition for FanDuel as the online handle at that site was $164.7 million. These two operators combined for over 65 percent of the market share, but there are many other options in the state.
The two other biggest online operators in Pennsylvania are Barstool and BetMGM. Barstool took over the third spot for the month at $52.8 million. BetMGM was close behind in fourth place at $50.7 million.
