Pennsylvania April Handle Climbs to $712 M, but Taxes Dip on Thinner Hold

April Revenue Insights

Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks took $711.57 million in wagers this April, their richest fourth-month handle to date and a 10.1% bump on last year. Operators kept $61.78 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR), up 4.6% year-over-year; however, the statewide hold slid to 8.68% (-0.46 percentage points). That slimmer margin nudged the month’s tax transfer down to $14.46 million, about 5% lower than April 2024 despite the heavier betting volume.

Pennsylvania’s April Trajectory

Year	Handle	GGR	Hold	Taxes
2023	$572.15 m	$51.79 m	9.05 %	$13.33 m
2024	$646.06 m	$59.05 m	9.14 %	$15.27 m
2025	$711.57 m	$61.78 m	8.68 %	$14.46 m

YoY change (2024 → 2025): Handle +10.1 % | GGR +4.6 % | Taxes -5.3 % | Verified data from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

How Pennsylvania Compares with a Like-Sized Market

Why Ohio?
The Keystone and Buckeye States sit side-by-side in population (≈13M vs. 12M) and both feature deep operator line-ups, making handle-to-tax efficiency easy to size up.

April 2025	Pennsylvania	Ohio
Online books	10	16
Handle	$711.57 m	$807.22 m
GGR	$61.78 m	$73.69 m
Hold %	8.68%	9.13%
State tax	$14.46 m (eff. 23.4% of GGR)	$14.74 m (eff. 20.0% of GGR)

Ohio’s broader promo push and slightly higher hold produced 13 % more handle and 19 % more operator revenue, yet Pennsylvania’s steeper effective tax rate still kept both states’ public take almost neck-and-neck.

Compare all U.S. states sports betting revenue

Where the Money Goes

Pennsylvania’s sports-betting taxes, effectively 23% of GGR, flow chiefly into the lower school property taxes, support for the agricultural community, to enhance business, and provide grants through the Commonwealth for use by counties and municipalities.

How Pennsylvania Got Here

Lawmakers legalized sports wagering in 2017 (HB 271); retail books debuted in November 2018, and mobile apps followed in May 2019. Ten online brands now operate: Bet365, BetMGM, BetPARX, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics, FanDuel, and SugarHouse, pushing lifetime handle past $30 billion.

With NFL preseason futures already posting, operators will look to recapture last summer’s double-digit hold. At the same time, legislators eye fresh tweaks to promotional-credit deductions that could further sway monthly tax flows.

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Sol Fayerman-Hansen is Editor-in-Chief at RG.org with 20+ years of experience in sports journalism, gambling regulation, and tech. His work has appeared in Forbes, ESPN, and NFL.com, covering U.S. and Canadian gambling laws, major sports events, and wagering trends. Since 2023, Sol has led RG.org’s global editorial efforts, focusing on transparency, data accuracy, and regulatory insight. He works closely with researchers and legal experts to uphold E-E-A-T and Trust Project standards.📍 Israel/Canada 🌐 English, Hebrew 🎯 Gambling law, responsible gaming, tech in betting

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