'Big Three' Online Casino States Set New Records In October

October is peak season for sports betting in the US, the annual sweet spot on the calendar where all four major sports are in action together.

Sportsbook operators are indeed riding the seasonal wave once again, but it is their online casino offerings that are making the biggest splash.

Online casinos have posted a record month in each of the six reporting markets, combining to produce more than $950 million in total operator revenue and $250 million in state taxes.

Pennsylvania Online Casino Revenue Soars

No state makes more money from expanded gambling than Pennsylvania, and its iGaming industry continues to drive substantial revenue to the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania online casinos combined to generate $312 million in revenue, a single-month record for any US market and the first above $300 million. That haul represents a 27% increase from last October, producing more than $100 million in tax revenue for the fourth consecutive month.

Sports betting handle also reached a new record in Pennsylvania, up 13% to $969 million. Revenue was $91.8 million, making October the fifth-highest grossing month for sportsbooks since their launch in 2018.

Taken together, online gambling in Pennsylvania produced $404 million in revenue and $134 million in taxes for the month to lead all US markets in both columns.

Michigan Sets Sports And iGaming Records Too

A few months shy of its fifth anniversary, the Michigan online casino industry is similarly thriving.

Operators there combined to generate $279 million in revenue for October, up 26% to a new record. The tax bill from the state came to $75.1 million.

The growth curve for Michigan sports betting is flattening just a bit, with handle climbing just 6% to $619 million. Local sportsbooks had a particularly profitable month, though, with a 12.2% hold producing $75.4 million in revenue—the second-most for any month since launch.

New Jersey Still An Elite Gambling Market

New Jersey online casinos have been around since late 2013, and they still regularly churn out record months in the modern era of digital gambling.

October was the most recent, with $260 million in revenue representing a 22% increase from last October. Revenue for the calendar year to date already matches 2024’s full-year total ($2.39 billion) with two months left to pad the numbers.

Sports bettors in New Jersey meanwhile wagered $1.24 billion in October, a 9% increase over last year’s mark. Revenue was $116 million.