- Mount Airy Casino Resort registers the smallest revenue decline year-over-year
- The casino is bolstered by Internet poker and gaming operations
- Sports betting in Pennsylvania begins to climb up and recover in June
Out of all 12 state casinos, Mount Airy has proven the most resilient thanks to its partnership with PokerStars and online poker and gaming in general.
Mount Airy Cushions Lockdown Impact with Internet Poker and Gaming
With results falling across the board, there was one casino that did well during the novel coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown. According to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) data, Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County saw the smallest dip out of all state casinos.
Reopening on June 22, Mount Airy has had time to recover and the company only saw a 4% decline in year-over-year results, bolstered by online poker and casino-style games.
Thanks to PokerStars, the casino’s official Internet poker partner, Mount Airy has been able to host and cash in on hundreds of high-profile poker games.
According to the PGCB, the casino has been able to clock in $7.7 million Internet gaming revenue and an additional $3.2 million from Internet poker. PGCB spokesperson Doug Harbach has highlighted the company’s resilience and inherent strength of diversifying gaming companies’ portfolios with online alternatives.
“Without the poker revenue, he said the drop would have been more than 30% which is more in line with other casinos.”
In comparison, other properties did poorly, including the Mohegan Sun Pocono, which saw a two-fold decline year-over-year. Pocono registered just $9 million, the PGCB said, out of $18 million last year.
The Plains Twp. Casino registered a much poorer results as well, after it became shuttered in mid-March. Overall, the state’s 12 casinos registered $132.6 million in total revenue for June, or a slightly over 50% decline year-over-year. In comparison the results posted in June 2019 stood at $271.3 million.
Sports Betting Handle Remains Strong
Interestingly, sports betting handle in the Keystone State remained strong, with some $89 million wagered. In fact, that was already higher than May’s results which stood at $77.5 million.
However, the interest in sports didn’t come from mainstream competitions, but rather from marginal sports, including table tennis, fantasy sports, and even electronic sports. Moving forward, Pennsylvania should be able to recover a bit both in terms of casino revenue as well as sports betting with more leagues returning and land-based venues back in business.
