Pennsylvania fantasy sports revenue hits $2.9m in October

Pennsylvania saw fantasy sports revenue grow to $2.90m (£2.3m/€2.5m) in October, a 36% increase on the previous month.

Figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show that revenue has grown significantly from the $2.13m total in September, with the vast majority generated by daily fantasy sports market leaders DrafKings and FanDuel. 

DraftKings retained its position as the state's fantasy sports market leader, with revenue climbing 32% month-on-month to $1.55m, ahead of FanDuel on $1.25m.

In a distant third place was SportsHub Technologies, which posted revenue of $41,572. This was a significant improvement on the operator's performance in September, when its revenue amounted to just $270.49. As a result DRAFT was pushed back into fourth place, despite revenue almost doubling to $36,592.

The growth in revenue, which is taxed at 15%, saw tax generated from seven of the state's nine licensed fantasy sports operators grow 36% to $435,429. Two of the licensees, Full Time Fantasy Sports and Fantasy Football Players Championship, did not generate any revenue during the month.

Following the opening of Pennsylvania's fantasy sports market in May, the state has taken another step towards expanding its gambling market with the launch of legal sports betting earlier this week. Penn National Gaming-owned Hollywood Casino took the first legal bets on November 17, following two days of testing.

Sports betting is currently limited to land-based venues, but Penn National has previously said it expects the first online bets to be taken in Q1 2019.

Image: Keith Allison