Pa. lawmakers push gambling addiction fixes
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Pennsylvania lawmakers say the explosion in smartphone gambling has fueled addiction problems they never anticipated when the state legalized online betting several years ago.
Why it matters: Calls to Pennsylvania's gambling addiction hotline hit a record high last year as online betting revenues continued to surge.
Context: Pennsylvania legalized gambling outside casinos — including sports betting, online gaming and video gaming terminals — in 2017, with a staggered implementation coming in 2018 and 2019.
- Revenues have increased year over year since, totaling nearly $6.8 billion in 2025, resulting in more than $2.9 billion in tax revenue last year, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
- That was an increase of more than 10% in revenues and more than 12% in tax revenue over 2024.
Driving the news: State Sen. Wayne Fontana (D-Brookline) convened a panel this month at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to discuss the proliferation of online gambling and the state's growing gambling addiction.
What they're saying: Fontana supported the 2017 bill to expand gambling, but he says gambling addiction has become a bigger problem than he initially realized, especially with the proliferation of unregulated skill games.
- "Back when we passed the legislation, we didn't anticipate the massive use on smartphones and skill games. We need to catch up," he said.
- "It is a frictionless environment for gambling now," said Carnegie Mellon professor Ron Yurko during the panel discussion.
Between the lines: Online gaming and sports betting are driving the gaming control board's revenue increases.
- Spending on fantasy sports and at table games and slot machines has remained relatively flat over the last several years.
Stunning stat: Revenue from sports betting has increased 616% since 2019, Pennsylvania's first full year of legalized sports betting.
- Online gaming revenues have increased 390% since 2020, the state's first full year of online gaming.
Zoom in: Fontana has introduced bills to ban credit card payments for online gambling and increase fines for companies that advertise to anyone on the state's growing gambling self-exclusion list.
Zoom out: The bills have attracted only a handful of co-sponsors and have not advanced out of committee.
The bottom line: Fontana said his bills should be just the start of addressing gambling addiction.
- Carnegie Mellon sports gambling professor Linda Moya agrees: "It's like we are treating the issue just by individuals, instead of a societal issue. It's like putting a tiny Band-Aid on a large cut."