March Madness is not going anywhere and if Pennsylvania March numbers indicate anything, bettors continue to crave the NCAA Basketball Tournament each year.
Coming off the traditional slow betting month of February, March numbers for Pennsylvania sports betting showed a solid increase in March with a total handle of $560.3 million, a 9.97% rise over the $509.5 million in February.
Pennsylvania Sports Betting, March vs. February
| Total Handle | Mobile Handle | Gross Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| March | $560.259M | $514.336M | $29.352M |
| February | $509.548M | $469.709M | $16.380M |
| Change | Up 10.0% | Up 9.5% | Up 79.1% |
March Madness Provides A Spark
The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament always provides a welcome spark to bettors, after the one-day madness of the Super Bowl in February.
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The Keystone State’s numbers proved that bettors will flock to their phones or the sportsbook windows when a big event is worthy of such action. That’s good for the book, good for the bettor and good for the state as its sports betting revenue was $41 million, a 23.5% increase over February's $33.2 million and its gross revenue came in at $29.4 million, a huge 79.3% increase over $16.4 million from a month ago.
Will PA See Record Figures Soon?
In January, Pennsylvania topped $600 million ($615.3 million) in total sports betting handle for a month, setting a new record for the state.
March numbers helped creep closer to that number and with the Final Four and the National Championship game in early April, the start of MLB’s regular season on April 1 and the recent completion of The Masters, we will see if the state maintains its solid numbers from March or gets even closer to that January number.
Reopening of Pennsylvania
On Easter Sunday (April 4), Gov. Tom Wolf eased coronavirus restrictions throughout the state. Restaurants resumed bar service, alcohol service is allowed without a food purchase and the curfew for removing alcoholic drinks from tables was lifted.
The indoor dining capacity was also raised to 75% for those restaurants currently self-certified and those that undergo the self-certification process, which involves agreeing to strictly comply to all public health safety guidelines and orders.
This will help PA casinos and sportsbooks throughout the state as more people get back out to a more normal, routine-like feel to life.
