Pennsylvania casinos reported record revenue in 2015, reversing a two-year streak of annual declines.
According to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, total revenue at the state’s 12 casinos in 2015 came to $3.173b, a 3.41% improvement over 2014’s figure.
The total surpassed the state’s previous annual revenue mark of just under $3.16b in 2012 and marked the fifth straight year in which the state’s annual casino haul topped the $3b mark. The state also snapped a two-year losing streak that was entirely driven by falling slots revenue.
Total slots revenue in 2015 rose 2% to $2.365b, although this was less than the sums slots brought in the three years spanning 2011 and 2013. Table game revenue was up 7.8% to $808m, a new record and nearly quadruple the sum earned in 2010, when the state first authorized table play at its casinos.
Parx Casino was the state’s top earner in 2015, generating $523m ($379m slots, $144m tables), just edging out Sands Bethlehem’s $514m ($299m slots, $214m tables). Parx was the unquestioned slots leader, while Sands Bethlehem dominated the table rankings.
Pennsylvania’s profitable 2015 brings total gaming revenue earned since the market opened in 2006 to over $22.6b, of which $11.8b was kept by the state thanks to its punitive 54% tax rate.
The results stand in stark contrast to the casinos across the state line in Atlantic City, which reported its ninth consecutive annual revenue decline in 2015. The AC casino take has been falling ever since Pennsylvania’s market launch and was less than half its 2006 peak in 2015.
Pennsylvania has not only poached business from AC, it has fended off new competition on its southern border with Maryland, whose five casinos reported revenue up 8.4% in 2015. More Maryland competition is coming in 2016 when the state opens its sixth and final casino, MGM National Harbor, in the second half of the year.
