American Gaming Assn. Report Says US Gambling Sector Still Strong and Growing

Article ByDavid Weir

July 25, 2023

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Posted in: US Gambling News, US Casino News, US Sports Betting News

The U.S. gaming industry is experiencing a significant upward trend in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Tracker for May 2023.

Commercial gaming operators generated a Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of $5.49 billion in May, marking a 6.4% increase year-over-year.

It marked the 27^th consecutive month that the U.S. gambling market has seen overall growth.

This also represents a slight increase from the $5.41 billion made in April. From January 1 to May 31, the U.S. markets made $27.59 billion in GGR. That’s up 12.4% year-on-year.

This new report somewhat contradicts some aspects of the AGA’s April report into the state of the U.S. gambling market. It teamed up with credit rating agency Fitch for the previous report, which predicted a general slowdown of growth in 2023.

That part has slightly panned out, as May did indeed have slower revenue rises than April. However, the report also predicted a possible overall decline later in the year – which doesn’t yet look like it’s materializing.

Related: Our expert guide to all U.S-wide online casinos

Sports Betting Leads the Way

Sports betting was the fastest-growing sector of gaming in May, generating $864.1 million in revenues, up 41.5% on May 2022.

This growth was primarily driven by sports betting launches in markets such as Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Maryland in the last year.

The year-to-date market has pulled in $4.58 billion, up 65% on the same period in 2022.

At the state level, 24 out of the 33 markets that were previously open for a year or longer declared annual revenue improvements in May.

Meanwhile, Ohio and Massachusetts (both launched this year) have already broken into the top five sports betting states for May.

New York, with its consistent billion dollar handle months, remains the top sports betting market in the U.S. In May, the state’s bettors hit $25 billion in total wagering since legalization in 2022.

Casinos Also Grow

Online casinos also show a significant annual growth of 22.4% in May, making operators $498.4 million. Slot games, online and offline, are the single biggest revenue generator for U.S operators at $2.98 billion for the month.

Interestingly, casino table games were the only sector to decline in revenue from 2022. Collectively, the nation’s casinos made $834.3 million on table games in May, down 4.8% from the same month last year.

However, overall, 19 out of 25 states with commercial casinos also increased in revenues.

On the other hand, half a dozen states, such as Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, and Oregon, all reported declines in overall gambling revenues.

The AGA noted that most of the states listed above were impacted by slowdowns in land-based casinos, while Delaware, Mississippi, and Oregon had lower sports betting revenue concerns.

Overall, the growth figures are very impressive. However, the AGA suggested caution. The report reiterated that revenue growth is slowing every month, and also highlighted that some markets are moving apart faster than others.

“The strength of state market performances has begun to diverge in the face of annual comparisons that are no longer impacted by past COVID concerns,” the report said.

Nevertheless, the overall trend for the U.S. gaming industry remains positive, with sports betting and online casino gaming leading the growth charts.