Gathering Change: How Pennsylvania’s $600M March Casino Revenue is the Calm Before the Storm

Pennsylvania just posted headline numbers that would make any Chamber of Commerce weep with joy: More than $602 million in total revenue, with more than $330 million of that coming from online gambling. 

That’s online number is up roughly 12% from March of 2025, though if we back out online sports, the $254 million iGaming took in is up only 7% from prior year. It’s also worth noting that New Jersey had iGaming revenue from slots and tables that totaled $272 million in March, with a population of nearly 4 million residents fewer. 

March also highlighted yet another decline in iTable play in the Keystone State, which is one of the few iGaming states that breaks out differences between iSlots and iTables. March iTable revenue is down nearly 9% YOY, and it was down nearly 10% in February. This only emphasizes the importance of growth in iSlots, which showed a robust 12% growth over March 2025.

Retail Casino Weakness and Sports Betting Volatility

Comparing these numbers with those posted by the brick-and-mortar casinos tells the rest of the story. Retail slot revenue in the state was down 2.8% on average, and only three of the state's seventeen operators managed to show growth. Table games play declined a bit more at nearly 4% on average, though nearly half of operators did manage to show some growth in March. 

Sports books played extremely lucky during March Madness as well,  which was fortunate as total amounts wagered declined in the month to $730 million from $842 million last year, a rather lurching 13% free fall, but because of significantly less player friendly outcomes, and many favorites covering during the NCAA tournament, total revenue surged nearly twenty million dollars to $47.8 million a rise of 77%.

So while the headline read $602.4 million in revenue, one of the three highest ever recorded in the state, it masks some real concerns about fundamental weakness not only in the brick and mortar retail side but also declining sports handle, as well as two months of sharp decline in iTable and live dealer studio numbers. 

New York Competition Threatens Vulnerable Operators

This couldn’t come at a worse time as one of the downstate New York licensee winners, Resorts World,  prepares to launch thousands of Class III slots and hundreds of new live table games at Resorts World Queens over the next several months. Bethlehem Wind Creek, Mount Airy, and the northern Philadelphia casinos like Parx and Philly Live could all be impacted. 

Mount Airy, Bethlehem Wind Creek, and Philly Live had probably counted on profits from iGaming to help them weather the storm, but Mount Airy has spent the last few months dealing with Pokerstars, their online casino skin, preparing to go live on the FanDuel app. While they’ve replaced them with a secondary version of BetRivers, their iGaming revenue has plunged 43% in March. 

Wind Creek also chose a very tough time to attempt to replace their Wind Creek Online app with a new version from Flowplay titled Imperial Treasure Casino. While it must have been disheartening to have their app pretty much continuously ranked last while the brick and mortar casino was near the top of revenue rankings, it remains to be seen if giving up nearly 40% of revenues in March was the best laid of plans. 

And over at Live! Philadelphia, we saw the regional PlayLive app get absolutely crushed in March, down 65%, one presumes due to the massive national marketing budget of FanDuel and DraftKings during the all-important March Madness period. In fact, all three of these casinos saw combined revenue across all verticals down nearly ten percent in March as they face uncertain headwinds. 

Exactly how hundreds of new table games and slots just ninety miles away might impact some of these casinos has been debated by gaming analysts, but most agree that WindCreek and its $20 million in retail table games play and reliance on the NYC market as probably the most at risk. 

The Battle Over Grey Market Skill Games

On the other hand, another change might positively impact these casinos in the coming months. Pennsylvania is currently home to nearly 80,000, some estimates say closer to 100,000, so-called grey market skill games. They closely resemble slot machines in all but tax rates. The state charges slot machines online or in a retail casino roughly a 54% tax on revenue; these grey market machines pay effectively zero.

Last November the PA Supreme Court heard arguments on a case involving one of the biggest providers of these machines in the commonwealth, Pace-O-Matic. With nearly six months now elapsed, many believe that a court decision on the legality of these slots, and more importantly, on whether they will need to be licensed and taxed to be imminent. 

Either way, one of the biggest impediments to both retail-based and iGaming slots is about to be forever changed. Either nearly a hundred thousand machines will be found to be illegal and removed or tens of thousands will disappear as the State taxes them at 54%, and small businesses and distributors realize that the vast majority of these machines are unprofitable with that type of overhead. 

The Governor has budgeted nearly $400 million in additional tax revenue for 2026 from these machines so it would seem to indicate which way he believes the case will go, but the Attorney General has also been busy. In fact, Dave Sunday, the PA AG, recently accepted a plea deal on April 8th from two of the larger skill games providers, which resulted in forfeiture of nearly $5 million and seizure of hundreds of machines. 

And in February, the AG also won a RICO-style case against another Central Pennsylvania Novelty Games Supplier, resulting in $3 million in forfeitures and money laundering charges for a former PA State police officer who had been working closely with the company. 

While it can seem like the Governor and the AG have different views on legality, it’s more that the AG is saying it's not whether the software involved here is skill-based, but that some companies broke the law and functioned as corrupt organizations, or in some cases evaded taxes. The charges stem more from institutional taint caused by massive amounts of cash washing through these businesses rather than an out-and-out judgment on the legality of these machines which will be settled by the court.

A Market on the Brink of Disruption

So we have both a new and potentially dangerous competitor opening shortly, just a little over an hour away on I-78 West, but also the potential for some relief from an army of grey market skill machines positioned at nearly every bar, restaurant, and gas station in the state. Both are likely to cause massive disruption, but not equally across every casino and iGaming brand in the State. The question is, who will profit and who will get left behind? We should have some answers next month.