The total sports betting handle in July for Pennsylvania increased 85% from June, but it was far behind New Jersey’s July handle.

Pennsylvania saw $164,782,229 wagered in July, compared to $89,002,562 in June, when casinos in the state started to reopening. But New Jersey, whose sports betting market is often compared to Pennsylvania’s, had $315,118,805 in total handle in July.

Thanks to online Pennsylvania sportsbooks mobile sports wagering in July in Pennsylvania was $155,354,508, which was 94.2% of the market. Mobile sports betting comprised 99% of the Pennsylvania market in June.

July was the first month of the fiscal year for Pennsylvania and it was a good start. In July 2019, Pennsylvania had $59,331,959 in total handle. So year over year, the state saw an increase of 178%.

Because of the coronavirus shutting down sports and casinos in mid-March and then having casinos reopen under a 50% capacity limit, Pennsylvania ended the 2019-20 fiscal year at the end of June with $2,285,095,482 in total sports handle and $160,143,811 in revenue.

Numbers Up Across the Board
Other key numbers from the July report:

The gross sports betting revenue was $8,147,480, an increase of 22.3% from June’s $6,663,433.
The online handle of $155,354,508 was up 75.9% from June’s $88,313,028, and it was up 298% from July 2019’s $38,998,648.
Table games revenue was $52,512,448, up 348.7% from June’s $11,702,156.
Online casino revenue was $51,364,651, up 9.7% from June’s $46,814,334.
Interactive slots handle was $1,105,688,035, an increase of 7.4% over June’s $1,029,427,993.
The handle for interactive banking tables was $719,995,963, up 13.3% from June’s $635,717,035.

Valley Forge Puts Up Big Numbers
Valley Forge Casino Resort outside of Philadelphia easily had the highest sports wagering handle in July with $69,719,809, creating revenue of $4,582,679. Valley Forge saw fiscal year 2019-20 sports betting handle of $993.7 million, the highest among state casinos.

Other sports wagering handle numbers for Pennsylvania casinos in July: Meadows, $39,595,988; Rivers Philadelphia, $14,328,507; Mount Airy, $12,072,510; Rivers Pittsburgh, $12,014,686; Parx Casino, $11,260,792.

Pennsylvania’s online poker sites saw Mount Airy post revenue of $2,986,498. That’s down slightly from June’s $3,240,917 revenue.

Several new entries into the online gaming market in Pennsylvania should soon make a difference.

The Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem was approved at the end of July for an online gaming platform in partnership with Pala Interactive. The launch was the completion of the first phase of the casino’s real money and social casino plans, with the next phase being sports betting introduced in partnership with Betfred USA and Scientific Games later this year.

GAN, an interent gaming software provider, has launched the new “PlayLive!” branded internet gambling business in the state for The Cordish Cos. It allows Pennsylvania residents to enroll online, in advance, for their Live! Rewards Players Card. The announcement in a news release Monday comes as the Cordish Gaming Croup is planning to open two new Live!-branded gaming facilities in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in late 2020 and early 2021.

This article is a reprint from Gambling.com. To view the original story and comment, click here.