Pennsylvania Sports Wagering Law (4 Pa.C.S. Ch. 13C)

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board authorizes sports wagering; only slot machine licensees can become sports wagering certificate holders. § 13C11(a)(1) lets the board authorize a licensee to conduct wagering at its licensed casino, a PGCB-approved temporary facility, an additional authorized area, or through an Internet-based system, and § 13C11(a)(2) covers certificate holders offering it as interactive gaming online. There's no separate sports wagering "license", § 13C11(a)(1)(iii) folds the authority into the existing slot machine license. Bettors must be 21 or older and physically located in Pennsylvania, or in a state the board has a sports wagering agreement with, per § 13C11(a)(3). Subsection (b) required the board to certify in the Pennsylvania Bulletin once federal law allowed state-regulated sports betting, the trigger PASPA's 2018 repeal satisfied, clearing the way for Pennsylvania's first sportsbooks that November.

Getting a certificate is not cheap. The PGCB's official fee schedule sets a $10,000,000 initial fee for a Sports Wagering Certificate Holder, covering a five-year term, with a $250,000 renewal every five years after that. Skins/platform operators pay $50,000 to apply and $50,000 to renew; manufacturers and suppliers each pay $10,000. Once running, certificate holders owe 34% of daily gross sports wagering revenue to the General Fund plus a 2% tax earmarked for local public-interest grants, a combined 36% rate, among the highest of any legal sports betting state.

Operating outside that framework is a crime, not just a licensing gap: 4 Pa.C.S. § 13C04 makes taking a sports bet without a valid PGCB certificate a first-degree misdemeanor on a first offense, escalating to a second-degree felony for repeat violations, with fines running from $150,000 (individual, first offense) up to $1.2 million (gaming entity, repeat).

Unauthorized sports wagering is a first-degree misdemeanor for a first offense under 4 Pa.C.S. § 13C04, escalating to a second-degree felony for a second or subsequent violation. Fines scale by defendant type: up to $150,000 for an individual, $150,000-$300,000 for a licensed manufacturer or supplier, and $300,000-$600,000 for a licensed gaming entity on a first offense, doubling on repeat, up to $1.2 million. Illegal winnings are forfeited to the Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund, and the operator still owes all taxes due as if licensed.