All About Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Steve Bittenbender

@BittGDCG

August 20, 2025 04:37pm

The experts at PennStakes.com assembled this guide to explain the terms surrounding Pennsylvania sports betting financial figures. These include the terms handle, revenue, gross revenue, and tax collections. It's worth noting this doesn't encompass the entire PA online gambling market but just sports betting specifically.

The sports betting market in Pennsylvania includes retail sportsbooks at the commonwealth’s casinos as well as mobile sports betting apps.

Overall, Pennsylvania has a sweeping array of legalized gambling options. The commonwealth has legalized traditional casino gambling and online casino gambling (slots and table games); sports wagering, both in-person and online; live and internet poker; video gambling terminals at truck stops; and fantasy sports. Pennsylvania also has horse racing and the lottery but those financial results are not included in the commonwealth’s monthly gaming report. 

In sports betting language, handle is the terms for all sports wagers placed in the state during any month (or year). The handle is broken down into retail bets, placed in person, or online handle. In Pennsylvania, bettors wager hundreds of millions of dollars each month. The vast majority of those bets are placed by people using online Pennsylvania sportsbook apps via computers or mobile devices, such as smart phones.

Revenue is what is left to the gambling operators after winnings are paid out. However, many states allow deductions resulting from promotions and bonuses to customers from the revenue total before the tax rate is applied. In Pennsylvania, the taxable revenue is called Gross Revenue in the commonwealth’s financial reports. 

In Pennsylvania, sports betting Gross Revenue is taxed at a relatively high tax rate of 36% (34% state & 2% local). But operators can deduct promotions and bonuses to customers before the tax rate is applied.

In Pennsylvania, retail sports gambling began in 2018 and online sports wagering began in 2019.

Pennsylvania Sports Betting, July vs. June

Not even the first-place Philadelphia Phillies could keep Pennsylvania from enduring the typical summer slump that comes with sports betting. According to data that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board posted on Aug. 20, Keystone State bettors wagered $412,477,357 in July. That was a drop of 14.7% from June’s total of $483,637,356.

Online wagering represented 95.2% of the monthly handle, with $392,624,115 wagered via sportsbook apps, down 14.8% from June’s $460,634,626.

While the handle dipped some, sportsbook revenues dropped more. The commonwealth’s sportsbooks reported monthly revenues totaling $40,578,753. That was off by 20.8% from the $51,236,554 they amassed in June.

Pennsylvania licensed online sports betting apps took an even bigger hit. The $37,905,811 they collected in July was down 23% from the $49,210,467 they earned in June.

As operators’ revenues decreased, so too did state’s share. Taxes from July sports betting generated $13,796,776 for Pennsylvania, 20.8% less than the $17,420,428 collected the previous month.

Online tax proceeds also fell 23% last month, with licensed sports betting apps responsible for $12,887,976 in taxes, compared to the $16,731,559 they paid in June.

FanDuel was Pennsylvania’s top online sportsbook for July, with the Flutter Entertainment brand generating an online handle of $139,500,051 and gross revenues of $15,750,322. DraftKings reported that online betting handle reached $111,178,167 for the month, with the app reporting gross revenues of $11,193,621.

Pennsylvania Mobile Sports Betting History