While the long-term health impact of Pennsylvania’s casinos reopening remains to be seen, the short-term financial impact is undeniably positive.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board posted July 2020 data for all verticals on Monday, and in a year-over-year comparison with July 2019, total land-based and online gaming revenue in the state was up 0.56%, from $281.5 million last July to $283.1 million a year later. (In July 2018, the number was a similar $278.3 million.)
While most of the gaming industry is still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 and the related social precautions, Pennsylvania is beginning to bounce back. Brick-and-mortar gaming was down with casinos facing numerous impediments and safety-related limitations, but as was hinted at the board’s monthly meeting on Aug. 5, the decreases were manageable. And they were more than offset, as it turns out, by an online gaming industry that has grown massively in the past year and by the return of major sports to bet on toward the end of the month.