Gaming Control Board reports rise in revenue

With the state’s gaming industry still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said the state’s 12 casinos saw a year-over-year increase of 1% in revenue for September.

The number was boosted from double-digit increases at three of the casinos, including a 32.8% increase at Hollywood Casino at Penn National — owned by Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming Inc. — and a 32.4% increase at Valley Forge Casino Resort near King of Prussia, Montgomery County.

The Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County saw a nearly 50% jump.

Overall, the state had total September revenue of $284.2 million, compared to $281.2 million from September 2019. Retail slots continued to be the biggest moneymaker at $157.4 million, down from $188.3 million in September 2019.

Internet gaming also helped keep the numbers up. I-Gaming slots brought in about $40 million — compared to $3.2 million a year ago — and I-Gaming table games were at $14.7 million, up from $900,245.

Individually, Hollywood Casino had total revenue for September of $28.4 million, compared to $21.4 million for the same month last year. Slot machine revenue was down 15.5% to $13.5 million and table games were down 14% to $2.5 million. However, I-Gaming revenue was $14.7 million, compared to $1.8 million in September 2019. The casino did see negative $2.4 million in revenue from its sportsbook.

Penn National’s other proper t y, T he Meadows Casino in Washington County, saw a drop of 25.8% to $12.7 million.

By comparison, Valley Forge Casino had total revenue for month of $22 million, up from $16.6 million from a year ago. While slots revenue was down about 20% to $6.7 million, table games were up 10.6% to $3.3 million. I-Games gave the casino a $9.1 million boost and the sportsbook also reported a $2.7 million profit despite a yearover-year drop of 46%.

Among other facilities in the region:

• Parx Casino in Bensalem, Bucks County broke about even over the year with revenue of $53.5 million.

• Rivers Casino, Philadelphia, was up 32.5% to $36.5 million. A good portion of that came from IGaming that pulled in $16.1 million.

• Harrah’s Philadelphia, Chester, was down about 7% to $18.7 million. Table games were up 4.6% to about $5 million.

Video Gaming Terminals brought in a combined $2.3 million, led by Penn National-owned Marquee by Penn, which saw revenue of $1.8 million.