Big news here for PA online sports betting. A massive deal just announced with Penn National Gaming will bring DraftKings Sportsbook PA to market, potentially before the start of football season.

A sweeping sports betting partnership was just announced between Penn National Gaming and several sportsbook operators, including DraftKings, PointsBet, theScore, and FOX Bet. The large scale agreement will give online sportsbook operators market access through Penn National’s gaming licenses in several key states including Pennsylvania.

There’s a lot to unpack here with regards to how this impacts the sports betting landscape. But particularly, it is important for DraftKings and their market access to Pennsylvania.

For a while now, it has been rumored that the DFS giant and New Jersey Sportsbook was looking for a path into Pennsylvania. But with only 12 licensed casinos, options for a partner in PA for DraftKings were running out. However, we had heard in recent weeks that they planned on being live in Pennsylvania before the start of football season. This partnership with Penn National Gaming may allow them to do just that.

So what does this mean for bettors in Pennsylvania? It means a lot more competition for FanDuel Sportsbook PA, SugarHouse Sportsbook, and BetRivers as we’re now seeing things happen fast and furiously after almost a year of delays and relative frustration about the rollout of legal betting both in person and online.

As for the rest of the deal, PointsBet, one of our preferred operators in New Jersey, will gain market access to several states, but not Pennsylvania. As will theScore, the Canadian iOS score app, which plans to launch a Sportsbook in New Jersey and now obviously in other states. And of course, BetStars, which will eventually become FOX Bet, now has more access points across the country. And they already have partnership in Pennsylvania.

This is a massive, massive deal for both sports betting in PA, thanks to the news DraftKings will enter the market, and many other states.