The American Gaming Association (AGA) has updated its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker with data tracked throughout August, revealing that gaming achieved a 10% yearly revenue increase during the month despite difficult macroeconomic conditions.
All gaming verticals saw year-over-year improvements, but sports betting grew the most by a staggering 116.2% as six new states had gone live with their sports wagering markets over the past year.
The AGA’s tracker – which measures the activity of the US land-based casinos, sports betting, and igaming operators – reported $4.89bn in commercial gaming revenue, a 10% YoY uptick, and a new record for the month.
Despite difficult macroeconomic conditions, August was also the 18th consecutive month in which YoY improvement has been hit for the industry, as gaming revenue grew across all verticals compared to the same month the previous year.
Out of the 31 commercial gaming states operational one year ago, 27 recorded a YoY revenue growth during the month. The states which didn’t see improvements were Delaware (-20.8%), Massachusetts (-0.4%), Mississippi (-0.2%), and the limited sports betting market of Montana (-9.1%).
The AGA noted that 2022 remains on track to be another record-setting year, as year-to-date commercial gaming revenue stands at $39.21bn, a 14.9% YoY increase compared to the same period last year.
Sports betting 2022 handle expected to reach $100bn
For August, traditional casino games GGR came in at $4.02bn, a 2.5% YoY growth. Table games’ GGR has improved by 4.3% YoY to $810.7m, while slots GGR also went up by 1.7% YoY to $2.92bn.
Casino games have grossed $31.96bn so far this year, 8.6% ahead of the same period in 2021. 22 of 25 commercial gaming states with slot and table gaming in 2021 saw combined revenue from these verticals improve during the first eight months of the year.
Sports betting revenue grew YoY in August too by 116.2% to $471.4m as six new states have launched the vertical since August 2021, with only two states (Delaware and Montana) not seeing organic growth.
The month’s handle only reached $4.54bn, flat from the year’s lowest level of betting activity in July but up 48.6% YoY.
Year-to-date, sports betting revenue stands at $3.97 billion, up 69.6% YoY, while handle is $55.76bn, an 86% improvement. The AGA also expects sports betting handle to surpass $100bn this year so long as there is no significant slowdown in the pace of growth between now and December.
August’s revenue in igaming – which is only regulated in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia – grew by 31.9% YoY to $401.8m, with all markets reporting annual growth except for Connecticut, which didn’t launch until October 2021. Year-to-date, igaming revenue stands at $3.21bn, up 39.9% YoY.
The full AGA Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker report for August can be read here.
