Pennsylvania Casinos Set New Revenue Record in FY 2015

Pennsylvania opened its first casino back in 2006, and by 2012 had overtaken New Jersey as the country’s second biggest gambling market. There has been no slow down in growth since then, though, and according to the latest results released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) its market generated a whopping $3.2 billion for the fiscal year 2015-16, representing a 3.6% increase versus the previous year, and marking a new all-time high for the Keystone State.
Accounting for much of the growth was Pennsylvania’s table game revenues, which came in at $839 million in FY2015, higher by 8% year-over-year. Slots revenues, on the other hand, posted rather more moderate gains of 2.3%, with the $2.4 billion collected up by $112 million from the previous fiscal year.
Pennsylvania subsequently collected $1.4 billion by way of state gambling taxes, and commenting on the state’s slots revenues, PGCB spokesman Richard McGarvey, said:
“When you consider all the new competition that’s come online, 2.3 percent is good, stable growth. From a tax revenue standpoint, that’s a good thing.”
Pennsylvania has 12 casinos, and leading FY2015 in terms of revenues was Parx Casino ($543m), followed by Sands Bethlehem ($533m). Valley Forge Casino Resort, on the other hand, reported the biggest growth in table games, up by 13.27% to $36.9 million, while Mohegan Sun Pocono posted the biggest table games decline of 7.24% to $45.7 million.
While the financial year’s revenues were higher, the same could not be said for June’s results which came in slightly lower than the previous year. From June’s tally, slot machines generated 1.08% less revenues at $190 million, while table games saw its business improve by 2.15% to $68.4 million year-on-year.