The Pennsylvania gambling market is marching forward as the dog days of summer commence. Both sports betting and online casino play is available in Pennsylvania.
Four sportsbooks are currently live, along with three online casinos, but the market is poised for continued growth. Sugarhouse is the leading casino, buoyed largely by the fact that their app had existed in New Jersey for several years prior to Pennsylvania launching. But the real question centers around what comes next in Pennsylvania?
The biggest brand name out there in the legal gambling space is DraftKings, which has both a sportsbook and an online casino. Rumors have it that DraftKings Sportsbook PA will be available before the start of football season. DraftKings also offers online casino games in their app, and they are surely targeting a launch in Pennsylvania for those games. They have a significant customer list to which they can market, and the brand recognition for sports fans to promote their sports betting app.
Pennsylvania is poised to become a dominant player in the online gambling space, and now that FanDuel’s Sportsbook is live in the state with a potential nearing launch of DraftKings, the market is fueled for rapid growth heading into the second half of 2019.
Analysts’ projections for the PA betting market seem to be tamped down a bit when compared to New Jersey and other states with potential online betting, like New York and Illinois. However, it’s worth remembering that Pennsylvania is one of the biggest states in our union, with two major metropolitan areas in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and for sports fans, a major college town with a major Division I college football team.
The sports betting potential is massive, but so is the online gambling opportunity.
Casinos in Pennsylvania have been a welcome surprise for state coffers over the last decade or so, with many brands establishing themselves, like Parx, SugarHouse and Rivers. Opening up those floodgates to the online consumer creates a whole new customer demographic– younger folks, who may not be in the routine of going to physical casinos, can play from the comfort of their own phone, along with extending the open hours indefinitely to those who do frequent the casinos.
Expect rapid growth in this area.