Operator News

US – Commercial gaming enjoys its best ever July in US

By Phil - 18 September 2023

Commercial gaming industry revenue reached $5.39bn in July, according to state regulator data compiled by the American Gaming Association (AGA).

The figure represents a new record for the month of July and a 5.9 per cent increase year-over-year. However, the pace of annual revenue growth has continued to decline nearly every month since the start of the year. This deceleration is due in large part to more normalized post-pandemic annual comparisons which will persist going forward.

Traditional casino gaming revenue performance was notably strong in July, with nationwide revenue generated from casino slot machines and table games reaching a new all-time monthly record of $4.4 billion. This surge in revenue was propelled by seasonal travel trends and the addition of several new physical casino properties.

After the first seven months of 2023, aggregate revenue from traditional casino gaming, sports betting and iGaming was $37.91bn, outpacing 2022’s record-setting pace 11.0 percent.

At the state level, 21 of 31 commercial gaming jurisdictions that were operational a year ago and have complete data available saw gaming revenue growth from July 2022.

After the first seven months of 2023, just five jurisdictions remain behind their gaming revenue pace from the same period in 2022: Florida (-0.8 per cent), Indiana (-0.5 per cent), Iowa (-0.1 per cent), Louisiana (-0.1 per cent) and Mississippi (-3.8 per cent).

In addition to the modest growth in land-based gaming, overall gaming revenue continues to be primarily fueled by the ongoing expansion and acceleration of online gaming, with combined revenue from online sports betting and iGaming increasing 25.2 per cent year-over-year in July.

Although the pace of overall annual commercial gaming revenue growth lags digital offerings, the rate of annual revenue growth from land-based gaming, encompassing slot machines, table games and retail sports betting, remained steady at 2.5 per cent in both June and July. This is a significant shift from the previous three months, during which land-based gaming growth was flat. The summer expansion in land-based revenue is driven by robust performance of destination markets, with the Las Vegas Strip achieving its highest revenue ever in July and several new regional casinos enjoying their inaugural summer season in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Land-based casino slot machines and table games continue to serve as the primary drivers of commercial gaming revenue. In July, slot and table revenue reached all-time highs individually and collectively with combined revenue of $4.4bn, slot revenue of $3.13bn (up 3.2 per cent) and table revenue of $976.3m (up 1.7 per cent). Note that the individual slot and table game figures do not include data from Louisiana and Michigan due to state reporting differences (though their aggregates are captured by the combined nationwide figure).

Through the end of July, combined revenue from casino slot machines and table games totaled $28.97bn, a 3.6 per cent increase over the same period last year, leaving the land-based casino industry well positioned for a third consecutive record revenue year.

At the state level, 21 out of 26 commercial gaming states that offered land-based casino slot machines and table games in 2022 posted year-to-date revenue growth in this segment through July. Among the five decliners, the southern casino markets in Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi experienced traditional revenue contractions of 0.8 per cent, 2.9 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively, while traditional revenue in Indiana and Iowa dropped 2.8 percent and 1.7 percent.

Revenue from sports betting and iGaming continued to expand, with both verticals reporting their best July revenue levels ever.

Commercial land-based and online sportsbooks collectively generated revenue of $497.7m across 27 jurisdictions, excluding Arizona, Illinois (had not reported July data at the time of publication) and Tennessee (no longer reports sports betting revenue). This marks an increase of 28.4 per cent from July 2022, when commercial sports betting markets were active in 25 jurisdictions (excluding Tennessee for comparison purposes).

Through July, year-to-date commercial sports betting revenue reached $5.46bn, exceeding the same period in the previous year by 63.1 per cent.

­­­­Finally, combined iGaming revenue generated in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia grew 22.7 per cent in July, reaching $481.5m.

Notably, national iGaming revenue has declined by 9.9 percent from its peak in March. With four consecutive months of sequential contraction, this is the longest such pull back for the vertical since its expansion beyond New Jersey and Delaware in 2019.  The spring and summer decline in iGaming revenue may be an emerging consumer trend for the vertical: a similar pattern was observed in 2022 when iGaming revenue contracted by 7.1 per cent between March and July.

Year-to-date iGaming revenue stands at $3.45bn, reflecting an increase of 22.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.