Nationwide Online Casino Revenue Tops $900 Million For March, Sets New Record

The old adage is “records are meant to be broken,” but when it comes to March and online casino revenue, the word to use is not “broken” but “smashed.”

Operators in the seven states with regulated digital casino platforms combined to generate a whopping $905.6 million in gross revenue, a robust 26.2% increase from last year.

March is a month when most operators will cross-promote online casino play with mobile sports wagering. The NCAA Tournament draws newer and more casual sports bettors as the largest annual sports betting event in the U.S. that spans multiple weeks, attracting a wider audience that can potentially be introduced to other gaming verticals.

All seven states reported year-over-year increases of 20% or higher in gross or adjusted gross revenue, and all seven set a monthly all-time high in either or both categories. Pennsylvania platforms even flirted with $300 million in gross winnings, a figure arguably inconceivable at the end of 2023, when it first reached $200 million.

The other big beneficiaries of this revenue boom were state governments, which saw a collective $177.1 million reach their coffers in March from $827.6 million in adjusted gross revenue. That figure does not include receipts disbursed below the state level and was a $41.1 million increase compared to last year.

The ‘Small 4’ pull their weight, too

Much was rightly made about the Keystone State, Michigan, and New Jersey all setting all-time monthly highs for operator revenue as all three topped $240 million gross and $235 million AGR. Pennsylvania platforms grossed $291.6 million while its $238.2 million AGR was more than the $230.6 million it grossed in March 2024.

It’s tough to reach a national record, however, without similar growth across the other four states.

That list starts with Connecticut, where FanDuel and DraftKings have a de facto duopoly, and an effective one at that. The pair claimed $57.7 million in gross revenue for March, a year-over-year increase of 30.3% as FanDuel took top honors with a record haul of $29.2 million. Both operators cleared $800 million drop in the same month for the first time, with DraftKings setting a Nutmeg State record with $853.7 million in accepted casino wagers.

West Virginia‘s operators narrowly eclipsed that total with a combined $888.8 million drop, contributing to a record revenue total of $36.4 million in March. That was up 51.9% from 12 months prior as The Greenbrier — tethered to FanDuel, BetMGM, and Golden Nugget — set state records for casino licensees with $17.4 million in revenue and $396.8 million in drop.

In Delaware, BetRivers is showing no signs of a sophomore slump as it reached eight figures in monthly revenue for the first time since becoming the state’s online casino platform at the start of 2024 via the Delaware Lottery. The $10.3 million in gross revenue was nearly double March 2024’s total while the $279.9 million wagered was 105.8% higher.

As Rhode Island legislators debate ending Bally’s monopoly on mobile sports betting, Year 2 of being the Ocean State’s sole internet casino platform got off to a strong start with $5.1 million in revenue. Year-over-year comparisons are not like-for-like since Bally’s launched March 5, 2024, but drop and winnings more than quadrupled.

Just how much was wagered?

The combined drop in published reports from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia, Delaware, and Rhode Island totaled $10.9 billion, an increase of 28.5% compared to last year. That amounts to nearly $2.5 billion in terms of dollars.

Pennsylvania accounted for $7.9 billion of that total, which means an estimated overall total amount of $25 billion wagered when including Michigan and New Jersey is realistic with the two states combining for over $500 million in revenue. As a point of comparison, the highest monthly commercial sports betting handle post-PASPA is $15.66 billion recorded last November.