PA Slot Machine Revenue Decreases Slightly In Fiscal Year

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — For the first time since they opened, Pennsylvania casinos have recorded a fiscal year-to-year drop in gross revenues from slot machine play.

Gaming Control Board spokesman Doug Harbach says for the fiscal year just ended, Pennsylvania slots revenue was off by almost 2-percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

“We had not seen a drop – even though this is a small drop – in the slots revenue since the casinos were opened in 2006,” he says, “and that’s because there continued to be a growth in the number of casinos, and then given the amount of competition that’s coming around Pennsylvania, it’s not unexpected.”

Harbach says these are just slots revenue figures; he expects the overall fiscal year-to-year drop to be mitigated by table games revenues when they are released in a few weeks.

The drop in slots revenues occurred even though there were 11 casinos operating all last fiscal year, while the Valley Forge resort casino was only open for a few months the year before.