Live! Casino Philadelphia is one of Pennsylvania's 17 land-based casinos. (Credit: Glenn Rieder)
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reported a record-high gaming revenue of nearly $6.4 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25, generating approximately $2.8 billion in state tax revenue.
PGCB was established in 2004 as an independent state agency under the Racehorse Development and Gaming Act. Its mission is to ensure the integrity of the state’s casino industry and protect the public interest through regulation, licensing, and enforcement action.
The Commonwealth has a seemingly small but mighty land-based casino industry, with just 17 in the state generating billions of dollars in revenue from slot machines and table games alone. Pennsylvania has the second-highest gross casino revenue in the country, only behind Nevada.
The PGCB is tasked with overseeing the state’s land-based casinos, in addition to internet-based gambling, sports wagering, video gaming terminal gambling, and fantasy sports games.
Gambling revenue is often classified under the “sin tax” umbrella, which includes excise taxes on vices like alcohol and cigarettes, intended to discourage consumption of goods considered harmful to society. Gambling disorder — characterized by compulsive gambling despite negative consequences — is listed alongside substance use disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5).
Yet, ever since slot machines were legalized by the Commonwealth in 2004, gambling has grown into a lucrative industry that brings in billions in state tax revenue. The legalization of online gambling in 2017 and sports betting in 2018 only grew the pot, as 48% of American men under 50 have an account on a digital sportsbook site like DraftKings or FanDuel.
In Pennsylvania, the various forms of gaming are taxed at different rates.
The gambling tax revenue funnels to multiple sources: property tax relief, county and local grants for economic development, support of the agricultural community through horse racing, and revenue toward the Commonwealth’s General Fund.
For the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year, the Commonwealth’s Budget Secretary certified that more than $1 billion in state-funded local property tax relief will be available for every school district in the state — much of which stems from gaming taxes. In Delaware County, for instance, Upper Darby School District will receive almost $9 million for property tax reductions.
The success of “sin taxes” to support state programs has rallied support in Harrisburg for other taxes of the like. Amid overdue state budget negotiations, a bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation to legalize recreational marijuana. Ideally, revenue from a 6% sales tax and 8% excise tax on legal cannabis would help balance the state’s multi-billion-dollar budget deficit.
Though the proposal was quickly dismissed by Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana), Democratic lawmakers and Governor Josh Shapiro have continued to emphasize the need for creative sources of tax revenue, such as recreational marijuana. Especially as essential public systems like SEPTA face service cuts due to insufficient state funding.
