How sportsbooks like BetMGM cover Pennsylvania sports

Pennsylvania's betting is on the upswing

When the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board dropped its fiscal year 2025/2026 report, the top-line number stopped barstool conversations cold. Total gaming revenue reached $7,005,987,435 for fiscal year 2025/2026, the first time Pennsylvania has surpassed the $7 billion mark.

Sports wagering revenue rose 35.95% to $662.9 million for the fiscal year, a jump that caught plenty of people off guard. Handle is every dollar a bettor puts at risk, plain and simple; hold percentage is what's left after winning tickets get paid, and that number's been creeping up as the books tighten their algorithms. iGaming was the biggest revenue driver for the second year in a row, generating just over $2.9 billion and muscling past the slot machines that used to power the whole operation. Slot machine revenue finished at $2.4 billion, table game revenue decreased 2.2% to $908.9 million, and video gaming terminals plus fantasy sports chipped in $41.6 million and $18 million respectively.

Tax and fee receipts returned to the commonwealth hit a record $3,098,193,583, funding school property tax relief, economic development, and agricultural support linked to horse racing. Sports wagering generated over $147 million in tax revenue during the fiscal year, taxed at 36% of gross gaming revenue. (Still makes the old-timers at the Moose Lodge shake their heads.) June 2026 revenue dipped 39.6% to nearly $31 million, yet handle rose 17.9% to $570.3 million, with Valley Forge and Meadows piling up more than half of June's sports betting haul.

Battling it out for your sports bets

Two sportsbooks gobble up most of the handle, but the hungry pack is closing the gap. FanDuel and DraftKings grab the biggest chunk of Pennsylvania's digital betting dollars, a fact as predictable as an Eagles fan roasting the Cowboys' secondary.

Challengers keep polishing their apps because the state's handle keeps climbing even when hold percentages wobble, and odds boosts splashed across every screen force lines to move faster than a T.J. Watt spin move.

The real question, though, is how a challenger like BetMGM has grabbed a chair at the Pennsylvania table. Pulling from MGM Resorts' loyalty machine, it cross-sells players across 28 states, the largest US online sportsbook footprint, while sitting third nationally. Back in the Keystone State, the Philadelphia Eagles are odds-on favorites (+115) to win the NFC East, with Cowboys +235, Commanders +460, and Giants +600. A $100 bet on the Birds brings back $115; Dallas pays $235; the Commanders and Giants hand you much fatter returns. The Eagles hold a win total of 10.5, planting them right among the championship chatter. The Pittsburgh Steelers sit at roughly +550 to win the AFC North, third-favorites behind the Ravens and Bengals, and rank 23rd in Super Bowl odds at a distant +7000. Their lone road preseason game in Buffalo on August 27 will shift early lines a few ticks. Longshot odds like +7000 keep every barstool dream alive, and bettors always gravitate toward those stories.

Prop bets turn sleepy midweek matchups into full-blown sweat sessions. Here's the kind of stuff you'll see popping up every weekend:

• Betting a slugger to go yard before he even digs into the box

• How many K's the starter piles up before the bullpen gate swings open

• Calling which squad draws first blood on the scoreboard

• Picking the exact point gap when the final whistle sounds

• Whether forty minutes ain't enough and overtime's coming

All that competition pressures oddsmakers to sharpen lines and sweeten payouts, and that means the guy in Lock Haven checking his phone at halftime gets a little more juice for his trouble. (And you can bet the books are tracking every single tap.)

Interesting betting markets

In Williamsport, the Crosscutters will rebrand as "Los Cadejos" for an international series against the Mexican Jr. National team June 12-14. It's the first international game at Bowman Field in its 100-year history. Sportsbooks are paying attention because bettors keep poking around for lines on international baseball, so the books want that handle.

Legalization cracked the door open for international sports that used to be a headache to wager on, from the Olympics to soccer. Operators now post odds on everything from Japanese baseball to European handball, and the Crosscutters' international series slides right into that expansion. (Los Cadejos gear is gonna fly off the shelves, by the way.)

Pennsylvania's become a top-tier market for a few reasons:

• Seventeen land-based casinos and a fleet of online sportsbooks running across the state as of 2026 give you more windows to play through than a downtown Pittsburgh sports bar on a Sunday.

• Nearly 13 million people call this place home, and that's a customer pool deeper than the Susquehanna after a spring thaw.

• Sitting right next door to legal markets in Jersey and New York cranks up the competitive heat and keeps operators honest with their pricing.

• From the 'Burgh to Philly, football Sundays bleed into hockey nights, basketball runs deep into spring, and the action never really idles.

• Sure, the tax bite sits at 36%, but operators keep finding ways to run profitable shops while still tossing enough promos around to keep things lively.

PA bettors have things to look forward to

Pennsylvania's betting scene keeps maturing. Operators are chasing steady profit over raw market share now, dialing back the avalanche of risk-free bets and deposit matches that used to flood your inbox.

Sportsbooks pour less cash into flashy promos and more into keeping you around, which usually means sharper odds and stickier features. Something to keep an eye on: the Joint State Government Commission, a bipartisan research crew, recently recommended potential restrictions on live in-game wagering and advertising to curb problem gambling and protect young people from betting promotions. 

Sportsbooks aren't going anywhere, and Pennsylvania bettors have more options and a smoother ride than they've ever had before.