All About Pennsylvania Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Steve Bittenbender

@BittGDCG

November 19, 2025 01:32pm

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, October vs. September

Sports bettors in the Keystone State put down a record amount in October, according to data released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Nov. 19.

October’s Pennsylvania sportsbooks handle of $968,507,712 not only was up 13.9% from the $850,549,347 wagered in September, but it was also 3.5% better than the previous one-month record, established in November 2024, of $935,530,170.

In fact, the online handle alone for October nearly toppled the old overall handle mark. Pennsylvania bettors risked $926,075,303 through the apps licensed by the PGCB in October. That was an 14.3% increase from the $810,134,651 bet online in September and 4.5% higher than the previous record of $886,503,760 – also set in November 2024.

October was also far better for operators in a month-over-month comparison.

The total revenue reported for the month was $60,674,209, a 104% spike from the $29,735,588 operators earned in September. Online apps enjoyed an even better month as taxable revenue rose 130.6% over the previous month, from $24,353,533 collected in September to $56,151,295 last month.

With operator revenues more than doubling, Pennsylvania’s share of the proceeds increased at the same rate. State sports betting tax revenues totaled $20,629,231 in October, up from the $10,110,100 generated in September. Tax revenues from online wagering accounted for $19,091,440 of that total, up from $8,280,208 in September.

Pennsylvania Mobile Sports Betting History