Pennsylvania Slot Revenue Down
According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board report, Pennsylvania casinos recorded a 2.2% decrease in revenue in the latest 2016/2017 fiscal year, compared to last fiscal year, thus breaking a two-year streak of revenue gains. The Board’s report provides monthly revenue figures of all 12 casinos within the state and, according to the numbers, 10 of 12 casinos recorded a decrease in revenue. The total in this fiscal year is $2,336,152,508, which is less than last year’s total of $2,388,658,549.
However, the report only reflects slot machine revenue, while the tax revenue produced through table games is still to come. The final figures will be provided later this month. Even though PGCB bragged about the fact that in seven straight years they managed to generate more than $2.3b just on slots, the fact of the matter is that this figure is below the $2.5b peak recorded by the state in the fiscal 2011/2012.
Only three of 12 casinos in total managed to record year-on-year slots revenue gains in the just finished fiscal year, and none of them had gains that went over 4%. For example, Parx Casino in Philadelphia was down 0.45% to $386.6m. As for the Sands Bethlehem, it saw its slots revenue fall 0.39% to $304.1m. The slot-machine revenue in the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in North Strabane fell 3.6 percent to $217.9 million, and the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh was down 2.5 percent to $265.3 million in slot-machine revenue. The drop of the revenue was recorded in 10 of the last 12 months, but the reasons for such a state were never discussed.
It seems that state government is not that concerned with the current condition of land-based casinos, since they still hold the nation-high 54% tax on slots revenue. Over the last ten fiscal years, since the authorization of slots, the government got $12.1b from slot machines.
This situation could prove to be a perfect opportunity for online gambling, which could provide extra means for funding of the state’s annual spending plan. The land-based casinos’ biggest enemies at the time are thousands and thousands of video gaming terminals located in pubs, bars and clubs, waiting for the bills which will allow them to operate legally. Already the House and the Senate approved the blueprints for gambling expansion, due to the fact that slot machines cannot guarantee an increase in revenue every year.
The state legislators are looking for additional ways to boost their budget, which is why they are slowly turning to online gambling. Online gambling companies are more than prepared to provide additional income to the state, which will result in the legalization of online gambling. However, the plans could be derailed by the resistance in the Senate. President Joe Scarnati told the press that both sides are close to a compromise deal. We will have to wait for the final decision in the following days.
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