Best Pennsylvania Sports Betting Sites and Apps November 2026

How online sports betting works in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania legalized sports wagering, both in person and online, through Act 42 of 2017. The law covers professional and collegiate sports and motor racing. The first retail bets were taken at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course near Harrisburg: after two days of test wagering, the sportsbook officially opened on November 17, 2018.

Online betting followed on May 28, 2019, when SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia launched the state’s first online sportsbook. It took $573,163 in online wagers over the last four days of that month.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) regulates sports wagering, along with the state’s 18 land-based casinos, online casino games and online fantasy contests. Every licensed sportsbook appears on the PGCB’s list of regulated sports wagering sites, which is the list we check our brands against. Some are casino-branded sites, which is why the number of major apps you’ll see in the list above is smaller.

The market is large.

In the fiscal year from July 2025 to June 2026, bettors wagered $8.45 billion, slightly down from $8.72 billion the year before. Sports wagering revenue rose almost 36%, which the PGCB called a high mark for a fiscal year. For bettors, rising revenue on lower handle means sportsbooks kept a larger share of each dollar wagered. Compare prices across books and check your margins with our margin calculator.

Rules to know before you bet

• Age and location. You must be 21 or older and physically inside Pennsylvania. Apps use geolocation to confirm you are in Pennsylvania when you bet, so you can bet while visiting from New Jersey or Ohio, but not from across the border. Our legal states map shows where else you can bet.
• College betting. You can bet sides, spreads and futures on in-state college teams such as Penn State, Pitt and Villanova. Player props on college athletes are not permitted under PGCB rules. In March 2024 the Board fined Stadium Casino RE $10,000 for offering unapproved college prop bets through its Betway platform.
• NFL Draft. Pennsylvania sportsbooks do not offer NFL Draft betting.
• Insiders. Athletes, coaches, referees and team staff with access to nonpublic information may not bet on events in the sport or league they are involved in.

Taxes: what operators pay and what you owe

Sportsbooks pay 36% of their gross sports wagering revenue: a 34% state tax plus a 2% local share assessment, both set in Title 4 of Pennsylvania’s statutes. The PGCB’s figures for 2025/26 show $238.7 million in sports wagering tax on $662.9 million in revenue, which works out at 36%. Your winnings are taxed too. Pennsylvania treats gambling winnings as personal income, taxed at the flat 3.07% rate. Residents pay on winnings from any source; nonresidents pay on Pennsylvania-source winnings, such as bets placed in the state. You can offset documented losses against winnings in the same tax year, up to the amount you won. Winnings go on line 8 of the PA-40 with Schedule T. Federal tax applies as well, so keep your own records and speak to a tax adviser if you’re unsure.

Safer gambling in Pennsylvania

Licensed Pennsylvania sportsbooks must let you set your own time, deposit and wager limits, and offer cool-off periods that lock your account for days, weeks or months. Read more about these in our responsible gambling tools guide.

For a longer break, the PGCB online self-exclusion program blocks you from every PGCB-regulated online betting site, sportsbooks included. You can enroll online at gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/SelfExclusion, at a PGCB office, or by appointment on 717-346-8300 or [email protected]. The ban lasts for the period you choose and can be extended by email. While self-excluded you cannot collect winnings, recover losses or receive comps from licensed operators. It covers only Pennsylvania-licensed providers.

If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-GAMBLER, text 800GAM or use the online chat at responsibleplay.pa.gov. More options are on our responsible gambling page.

What could change

Nothing below is law yet. On July 13, 2026 the Joint State Government Commission published a study suggesting lawmakers could ban in-game microbets, curtail VIP programs, bar credit card deposits, require players to cap their time and how often they deposit, and restrict some promotions and advertising on public university campuses. On October 21, 2026, state representatives introduced House Bill 2879, which would ban microbets, bar credit card deposits and add mandatory loss and time limits. As of late October 2026 it was still in the House Gaming Oversight Committee and had not been voted on.

About the author

Daniel WardFounder and Editor

Daniel Ward founded BettingSeeker and is responsible for everything published on it. He has spent his career in SEO and content for online betting and casino comparison sites, and today leads SEO for a portfolio of gambling comparison sites across several countries.

• Licensed betting and casino markets in the UK, US and Canada
• Bookmaker and online casino reviews
• Welcome offers and bonus terms

View profile