US gambling industry records 30th month of consecutive YOY growth

The United States has seen its gambling industry have a significant annual impact on its economy. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), gambling contributes roughly $330bn to the country’s economy on annual basis. This is not all, though, as casino gambling revenue has continued to grow through August 2023, AGA reports, marking the 30th consecutive month of year-over-year growth.

To put together this data, AGA used information from state regulators, allowing it to further determine that the combined revenue from several verticals, including casino games, sports betting, and iGaming has surpassed the $5bn-threshold for a 12th consecutive month, hitting $5.14bn in August 2023. The gains across individual verticals have been quite interesting as well.

The total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for August 2023 was $5.14bn or up 4.9%. It was boosted by both sports betting and iGaming GGR which hit $583.1m (up 21.2%) and $495.8m (up 23.4%) respectively. Table game GGR hit $822.4m (up 1.7%) and slot GGR raked in another $2.95bn (up 1%). Overall, the strongest drivers of growth have been sports betting and iGaming, with iGaming taking the lead.

Online casinos have long been outed as one of the most powerful drivers of gambling revenue, but they have been also the hardest to legalize, often facing opposition from state legislators. Regardless, eight US states have either legalized or are close to legalizing iGaming in the country.

Looking at the data from January through August, the US is on track to set the books on another record year. The total GGR from January through August sits at $43.15bn (up 10.4%). In terms of individual segment GGR for the first eight months of the year, the number stood as follows:

• Total GGR (Jan-Aug): $43.15bn (up 10.4%)
• Slot GGR (Jan-Aug): $23.80bn (up 4.2%)
• Table Game GGR (Jan-Aug): $6.76bn (up 1.6%)
• Sports Betting GGR (Jan-Aug): $6.14bn (up 60.4%)
• iGaming GGR: (Jan-Aug): $3.94bn (22.7%)

All gains are compared to the previous reporting period, i.e. 2022. Interestingly, despite the strong gain in iGaming revenue in August, on annual basis, sports betting was the biggest driver of revenue, with the activity bringing even more benefits to the industry. Meanwhile, six jurisdictions are still slightly behind on their 2022 results, with Washington D.C., Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Mississippi all posting drops from between 0.7% to 3.7%.

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