FanDuel Sportsbook completely obliterated the PA online sports betting market in the month of September, according to a recently released report from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

With a full month under its belt in August, FanDuel Sportsbook PA rocketed to the top of the online betting space in Pennsylvania in September, taking in over $85 million in handle (bets) in the month.

This marked the first time Sugarhouse Sportsbook had not led in the nascent market in Pennsylvania. FanDuel, which also is the largest online operator in New Jersey, has officially cemented itself as the most popular legal sports betting app in the early days of online sports betting in the United States.

[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”95941″]

 

Total Bets

Here’s the full breakdown in terms of handle that online sportsbooks in Pennsylvania took in for the month of September:

  • FanDuel Sportsbook: $85 million
  • Sugarhouse Sportsbook: $31 million
  • BetRivers: $23 million
  • Parx Sportsbook: $13 million
  • FOX Bet: $4.5 million

This is really interesting on several fronts.

First of all, FanDuel’s sheer dominance is impressive, no doubt about it. But we are shocked at how far behind FOX Bet PA, our recommended app in PA, is from the rest of the pack. Granted, it didn’t launch in until September 4, long after its competitors, but given a rather large marketing push and the volume of interest we’ve seen on a local end, we expected the number to be much higher, somewhere along the lines of Parx or Rivers.

It’s worth noting for FOX Bet that, though they have the branding and backing of FOX sports, they are tied to Mount Airy Casino Resort, which has a much smaller player database and reach than Sugarhouse or Rivers, two large casinos in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively, and Parx, the largest casino in the state.

FanDuel Sportsbook is partnered with the smaller Valley Forge Casino Resort, but they are able to rely on their brand name more than anybody else on this list.

Also interesting is that 81% of total sports bets in Pennsylvania were taken online in September (only $36 million in bets were placed at physical sportsbooks).

 

Huge Market

Total online betting handle increased to $158 million in September, up from $83 million in August, and only $38 million in July– the first full month of legal online betting in Pennsylvania.

It will be interesting to see what happens in October and November. Though September is one of the biggest betting months of the year with the kick off of football season, sportsbooks have now had a full fiscal quarter in which to gain new customers and ramp up novice betters, so October would be expected to be higher.

November is an interesting case as DraftKings Sportsbook PA is expected to enter the market sometime early in the month. DraftKings is our choice for best all-around sports betting app in the US. Should the Eagles and Steelers remain in contention, and Penn State remain a top-10 NCAA football team, there’s no reason why betting interest won’t continue to increase as we enter the holiday period and more sportsbooks enter the market.

What’s interesting about SugarHouse and BetRivers, is that they both don’t offer an iOS app and require players on iPhones and iPads to use a mobile web workaround to play. Given that the vast majority of online bets are placed on iPhones, the fact that, combined, they were able to take in $54 million in online bets is downright impressive. And yet, FanDuel remains the story. If you combine the rest of the market in total, FanDuel took in only $4 million fewer in bets.

DraftKings may be the only one who can challenge them in PA.