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Upfront licensing fees a short-term boon for state coffers, but revenue from gamblers will still have to wait, says PlayPennsylvania.com

Gambling has injected more than $385 million into Pennsylvania coffers in the first year since a law was passed to expand gambling in the state, surpassing state budget estimates. Upfront licensing fees for casinos, online casinos, and sportsbooks, as well as mini-casino auction profits and tax revenue from lottery expansion and daily fantasy sports, have combined to net Pennsylvania more than $1 million a day since late 2017, according to a recent analysis by PlayPennsylvania.com.

“The most notable aspect of the significant revenue that has been generated is that this is almost completely from fees, rather than tax revenue gained from gamblers,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “Clearly there is enough interest in Pennsylvania’s enormous market so far to generate the fees.”

The revenue estimates were tabulated by PlayPennsylvania.com using a combination of official statistics and estimates based on iLottery, keno, and virtual sports sales numbers. A detailed accounting of the revenue generated so far can be found at playpennsylvania.com/revenue.

Using return-to-player rates of the games, PlayPennsylvania estimates that the state has collected more than $23 million in revenue from online lotto games ($19.6 million), keno ($3.6 million), and virtual sports ($87,000) through October.

Other sources of revenue so far from the law include:

• Mini-casino auction profits, $128 million
• Interactive gaming petitions, $94 million
• Casino licensing, $78 million
• Sports betting petitions, $60 million
• Daily Fantasy Sports tax revenue, $1.4 million

By comparison to the gambling expansion, the state collected $799.8 million in taxes from statewide slot revenues in fiscal 2017-18. Pennsylvania estimated in February that the state will generate more than $34 billion in general fund revenues for its 2018-19 fiscal year.

“If the point of the expansion was to fill short-term gaps in the state’s budget, then the expansion would have to be considered a success so far,” Welman said. “We believe that the gambling expansion will eventually prove to be a winner for the state’s budget, but the long-term picture is less certain. More casinos and sportsbooks must open before we get a clear picture of whether Pennsylvania’s relatively steep tax rates and license fees will produce the desired outcome.”

With the November opening of the sportsbook at Hollywood Casino at Penn National, the rollout of sports betting is just beginning in Pennsylvania. More openings are expected in December and January, too.

In addition, Pennsylvania should begin adding revenue from online gambling in early 2019, and further down the line, mini-casinos should enter the fray.

“The addition of retail sports betting should help buoy a slowing Pennsylvania casino industry,” said Dustin Gouker, lead sports betting analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “If New Jersey is any indication, though, the more significant revenue generator will be online sports betting. A successful rollout there should generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state.”

About The PlayUSA Network:
The PlayUSA Network and its state-focused branches (including PlayNJ.com, PlayNY.com, PlayPennsylvania.com, and PlayCA.com) is a leading source for news, analysis, and research related to the market for regulated online gaming in the U.S.

Source: PlayPennsylvania.com

Source: European Gaming Media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We’re back with the latest slots releases!

Innovative game development studio: Evoplay Entertainment has released its latest out of this world slots game, E.T. Lost Socks. Alexander Levchenko, Chief Executive Officer at Evoplay Entertainment, said: “E.T. Lost Socks is one of our most adventurous slots yet, and proof that we really aren’t alone. This highly engaging, all-action game will appeal to every type of slots fan across the globe. E.T. Lost Socks joins a 50-strong portfolio of slots, table, and instant games produced at the company’s development studios in Ukraine.

Tom Horn Gaming takes slots players on an icy adventure in the kingdom of perpetual winter with it’s release of Frozen Queen! Wandering through a 4-reel frozen landscape in the base game, players might get lucky and come across two special Scatter Symbols in the form of magic crystals. These crystals activate 10 non-retriggerable Free Spins and introduce the Frozen Queen that materialises like the Sticky Expanding Wild, forming the 5th reel.

Santa’s got to get the sleigh ready for Christmas and what better way to do it than with the charming Naughty or Nice girls in their new bikini car wash? With five reels and 30 fixed lines, you can find yourself getting lucky with the Lucky Feature (5-7 free games), or the hit three Naughty or Nice III scatters for seven Free Spins, or, the toughest decision you’ll have to make playing this game, choose between the two girls and see what you get with the Pick A Girl Bonus. Tough choice!

Green Jade Games, a company in the MRG Group, has launched its innovative slots portfolio with Hammer of Fortune. Green Jade’s games clearly stand out from what is currently available on the market. “Hammer of Fortune is the ideal game to introduce Green Jade Games to the market. It’s innovative and represents a new iGaming genre. Green Jade Games’ future is set to be very interesting,” – commented Per Norman, CEO of MRG.

We end our weekly roundup, with perhaps the most anticipated release: Aristocrat is all set to launch a slot game based on the sci-fi-fantasy TV programme Westworld. The game leverages full potential of the fantasy and takes players on a thrilling journey through Delos Lab and Westworld, filled with unexpected twists and turns, fan-favourite characters and beautiful landscapes, as well as high-definition footage of the most memorable scenes, episodic photography and the show’s distinctive music. It promises to be a unique gaming experience in which fans can play in two different worlds.

Source: European Gaming Media

Reading Time: 1 minute

Gaming Partners International Corporation, the leading worldwide provider of casino currency and table gaming equipment, announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a special cash dividend of $0.12 per issued and outstanding share of common stock to be paid no later than 21 December 2018 to stockholders of record as of 10 December 2018. As of November 27, 2018, the Company had 8,045,968 common shares issued and outstanding, resulting in an aggregate dividend of $965,516.

About Gaming Partners International Corporation:

GPIC manufactures and supplies casino table game equipment to licensed casinos worldwide. Under the brand names of Paulson®, Bourgogne et Grasset®, Gemaco®, Dolphin® and Bud Jones®, GPIC provides casino currency such as chips, plaques and jetons; playing cards; table layouts; gaming furniture and table accessories; dice; and roulette wheels. GPIC pioneered the use of security features such as radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology in casino currency and provides RFID solutions including RFID readers, software and displays. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, GPIC also has manufacturing facilities, warehouses and/or sales offices in Beaune, France; San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico; Blue Springs, Missouri; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Gulfport, Mississippi; and Macau S.A.R., China. For additional information, please visit http://www.gpigaming.com.

Source: European Gaming Media