Gambling brings US$385m into Pennsylvania coffers

The million-dollar result comes a year after a law was passed to expand gambling.

US.- Gambling has brought more than US$385 million into Pennsylvania coffers in the first full year of operations since the state passed a law to expand gambling, surpassing state budget estimates.

According to a recent analysis by PlayPennsylvania.com, upfront licensing fees for casinos, online casinos, and sportsbooks, as well as mini-casino auction profits and tax revenue from lottery expansion and daily fantasy sports (DFS), have merged to net the state more than US$1 million a day since late 2017.

“The most notable aspect of the significant revenue that has been generated is that this is almost completely from fees, rather than tax revenue gained from gamblers,” said Jessica Welman, an analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Clearly there is enough interest in Pennsylvania’s enormous market so far to generate the fees.”

The state totalled US$799.8 million in taxes from statewide slot revenues in fiscal 2017-18. Pennsylvania estimated in February that the state would generate more than US$34 billion in general fund revenues for its 2018-19 fiscal year.

“If the point of the expansion was to fill short-term gaps in the state’s budget, then the expansion would have to be considered a success so far,” Welman said. “We believe that the gambling expansion will eventually prove to be a winner for the state’s budget, but the long-term picture is less certain. More casinos and sportsbooks must open before we get a clear picture of whether Pennsylvania’s relatively steep tax rates and license fees will produce the desired outcome.”