While individual casinos such as Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack in Pennsylvania recorded a downturn in March compared to three years ago, overall revenue remains strong thanks to the addition of new facilities, writes Gary Rotstein for the Penn Bets.

In March, the Keystone State’s gaming industry brought in a record $462.7 million generated by all forms of gaming. It is a monthly high for what operators earned from online casinos ($118.1 million). Another $30.4 million in taxable revenue came from from sports betting.

However, the strictly brick-and-mortar revenue of $309 million from 16 casinos is almost the same as in March 2019 ($309.1 million), the last pre-pandemic month with no COVID-related restrictions, when only 12 facilities were operating.

This means that the four new casinos made up for the 14.2 percent ($43.8 million) drop in earnings by the state’s first 12 gaming venues.

In March, Harrah’s Philadelphia brought in $15.5 million, which is a 6.7 percent drop compared to $16.6 million in revenue in March 2021. It is also 38.2 percent under $25.1 million the casino brought in for March 2019.

The lingering effects of COVID-19 on gamblers’ mindsets and new casinos are among the reasons for the drop.

Read more about the casino revenues in the Penn Bets.

Here’s a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 2012 for the Harrah’s Philadelphia casino.