Pennsylvania Sportsbooks
It may have been decades in the making, but the market for legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks has expanded far beyond what was initially thought possible. Residents of the state and all over the nation have become accustomed to using offshore online sportsbooks to bet on the biggest sporting events of the year. This makes sense with Pennsylvania being home to seven professional sports teams across the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, not to mention the popular NCAA teams like Villanova and Penn State.
Though offshore online sportsbooks are not going anywhere, sports fans in PA now have the opportunity to wager at state-licensed sportsbooks in addition to those regulated offshore. You may be wondering how this factors into the overall sports betting picture in Pennsylvania, and that is where our expertise comes into play.
Rather than learning general information about the sports wagering industry, it is more beneficial to find out how it all relates specifically to sports betting in Pennsylvania. This includes focusing on PA sports betting laws, casinos likely to offer sports betting, and other topics that impact sports bettors in the state. You can also easily find out how to bet on the Eagles, Steelers, Temple, the 76ers, and other local teams at legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks.
The recent Supreme Court ruling on PASPA has impacted sports betting in Pennsylvania in a major way, giving state lawmakers the option to regulate a once-banned activity. In Murphy vs. NCAA, the state of New Jersey argued that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was a violation of the 10th Amendment rights of the states. In support of the federal ban on sports gambling, the NCAA and four professional sports leagues contended that legalized sports betting would impact the integrity of their sporting events.
In a 7-2 vote, the Court ruled that PASPA was, in fact, unconstitutional, opening the door for New Jersey and other states to legalize sports wagering. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion for the Court, and stated the following:
"The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own."
As a result of the SCOTUS decision, Pennsylvania’s preemptive sports betting law that was passed in 2017 is now effective. Residents of the state can expect their favorite casinos and racetracks to enter the regulated sports betting market. Of course, operators will have to apply for licensure, but several casinos/racinos have already expressed interest. Pennsylvania will be one of the first states after New Jersey to start offering sports wagering.
The Pennsylvania sports betting law looks quite comprehensive, covering all types of wagering. House Bill 271 was passed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on October 26, 2017. Also known as Act No. 2, the law includes a 36% tax rate on sports betting revenue and a $10 million licensing fee. Existing casinos throughout the state can pay the fee to receive a “sports wagering license” that would permit sports wagering in addition to the slots, table games, and/or horse betting that are already authorized. The high tax rate has certainly raised a few concerns, especially when you compare this to the 6.5% rate that Nevada pays on gross gaming revenue.
The law also leaves it open for PA residents to potentially bet on sports from anywhere, at any time. Lawmakers included a provision that authorizes online sports betting for those within state borders. Here is an excerpt from the law:
“’Sports wagering.’ the business of accepting wagers on sporting events or on the individual performance statistics of athletes in a sporting event or combination of sporting events by any system or method of wagering, including over the internet through websites and mobile applications.”
The new law permits wagering on both professional and collegiate sporting events by residents who are over the age of 21. This applies to online, land-based, and mobile wagering at legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks.
You can read more about Pennsylvania sports betting laws here.
According to Pew Research, about three-quarters of Americans own a smartphone and more than 51% of the population owns a tablet. With numbers like these, it should be no surprise that Pennsylvania lawmakers included mobile sports betting language within their gambling provisions. House Bill 271 allows for mobile betting within the state, meaning both residents and visitors can wager from their smartphone or other mobile device. The law authorizes mobile sports betting within the definition of “sports wagering”, and there are no limitations on how many legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks can initiate mobile apps. Each licensee can decide whether or not to offer mobile wagering in addition to their land-based offerings.
It is legal to bet at an offshore sportsbook on your mobile phone in PA. Unlike in the states, overseas operators do not have separate laws for online and mobile sports wagering. If you are able to use the site for online sports betting, you can also legally use it from your smartphone or tablet. Unlike what will likely be offered by legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks regulated by the state, most offshore online sportsbooks do not require bettors to download any applications on their mobile device. Mobile apps take time to install and also use up storage space on your device. Instead, operators make sure that their sites are optimized for both iOS and Android mobile devices.
All potential bettors can benefit from a quick beginners guide to sports betting in Pennsylvania. There are a few basics to know in the areas of wager types, how to read odds, and the different sports that you can legally bet on. Whether you want to bet casually or intend on becoming a pro, having a solid foundation will help you in the future.
How To Read Odds
Though there are three standard formats for betting odds, PA residents will most often come across one – American odds. American betting odds designate a favorite (-) and an underdog (+) followed by numerical odds. Whenever a team is favored, you will risk more than your potential reward. The opposite rule applies when betting on the underdog, as your risk will be less than your potential reward. For example:
- New England Patriots (-300) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (+175)
When betting on the Philadelphia Eagles, you would only need to risk $100 to potentially win $175. Those betting on the favored opponent would need to risk $300 to win $100. While you will likely be wagering with American odds at legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks, you may still find it beneficial to learn how to read odds in all three formats.
Line Shopping
Simply put, shopping lines means to compare betting odds at multiple sportsbooks. This has always been best practice with online sports betting, but it is now even more important with legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks. You always want to get the best value, so if for example, you see that one book has the Steelers as a -6 favorite and the other has the team at -5.5, the latter gives you a better chance of winning. Another example would be one sportsbook with +200 betting odds and one with +300 – the +300 gives you a greater reward for the same amount of risk.
Unfortunately, with land-based sportsbooks it is harder to compare lines. You would have to physically visit each venue to take a look at the current betting lines. In addition, brick-and-mortar sportsbooks usually have worse odds than offshore online sportsbooks. This is because state-licensed operators have taxes and other expenses to account for. As a result, you get lesser odds than you would at an offshore site that does not have the same overhead.
Wager Types
There are quite a few different wager types for sports betting, some of which are specific to the actual sport. All wager types do fall into two categories – straight or exotic. Straight wagers include moneyline, total, and point spread bets.
Betting on the moneyline is simple as you are wagering on the team that will win the event. Wagering on the total is putting money on whether the score of the game will be over or under a specified amount. Point spreads are most popular with football betting, but are still common with basketball and other sports. You can think of a point spread as a way to level the playing field, requiring either side of the action to “cover the spread” by winning or losing within a certain range of points.
Exotic bets are more complicated because you may be wagering on several games/teams (parlays) or manipulating points (pleasers, teasers). Once you have a solid understanding of the basic wager types, you can pick and choose which bets are best for your strategy. Legal Pennsylvania sportsbooks accept all of the straight and exotic bets that are standard across all books.
