Pennsylvania has quietly taken the top spot in the American iGaming market, and it did it through the phone, not the felt. A rapid surge in online casino usage has pushed the Keystone State ahead of Nevada and New Jersey, confirming that the center of US gambling revenue is now digital.
iGaming overtakes the casino floor for the first time
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported that total gambling revenue for the 2024-2025 fiscal year reached roughly 6.4 billion dollars. The most significant detail is where that money came from. Internet casino games generated around 2.47 billion dollars, up about 27 percent from the previous year, and for the first time out-performed physical slot machines.
Retail slots held steady at roughly 2.44 billion dollars, while table games in brick and mortar casinos slipped slightly. Combined with a growing but still smaller contribution from sports betting and fantasy leagues, the picture is clear. Growth is no longer driven by the casino floor. It is driven by mobile apps and desktop lobbies that are open around the clock and available at the click of a button.
October and May provided a preview of how far this trend can go. In both months, statewide gaming revenue set new records, with iGaming contributing more than a third of all receipts.
Early legislation helped Pennsylvania scale faster than rivals
Pennsylvania’s position is not an accident. Lawmakers created a legal framework for online gambling in 2017, years before many other large states moved. The first sites went live in 2019. Since then, new brands have entered almost every year, from international operators to well known regional names.
By early 2025, players could choose from 17 legal online casinos. Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course leads the digital field in revenue, with Valley Forge Casino and Rivers Casino Philadelphia close behind. Product portfolios have expanded from a small catalogue of online slots and table games to hundreds of titles, dedicated live dealer studios and increasingly sophisticated jackpots.
Online slots have shown the fastest growth, while internet table games are rising more slowly. Poker continues to lag, but remains a niche component that still benefits from the overall shift to digital play.
Record tax revenue turns online gambling into a political win
The revenue generated from iGaming has direct implications for the public sector. Pennsylvania collected about 2.8 billion dollars in gaming tax revenue during the most recent fiscal year. That money supports property tax relief for homeowners, local government budgets, law enforcement and the state’s historic horse racing sector through the Race Horse Development Fund.
High tax rates on online slots and other digital products have not slowed operator interest. Instead they have turned iGaming into one of the most important recurring revenue streams for the state budget. Regulators now view internet gambling as essential to maintaining year-on-year growth.
A model for states still debating online casino regulation
For other states watching from the sidelines, Pennsylvania shows what a mature, regulated online casino market looks like at scale. Land based casinos still matter. They employ thousands of people and offer entertainment for the masses. However, their revenue line is mostly flat. The exponential growth now belongs to the digital space rather than the physical.
As long as players continue to favor convenience and choice on their devices, Pennsylvania’s ranking at the top of the US commercial gambling table is unlikely to be a temporary spike. It is more likely the new baseline for what a state can accomplish after legalizing gambling.
References:
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: Fiscal Year 2024/25 record revenue press release with full breakdown by vertical – https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/news-and-transparency/press-release/pennsylvania-gaming-control-board-reports-record-revenue-nearly
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: May 2025 monthly revenue press release showing first $600m month and detailed revenue by game type – https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/news-and-transparency/press-release/pa-gaming-control-board-reports-first-600-million-revenue-month
- American Gaming Association: Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker – https://www.americangaming.org/resources/commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/
