Nationally, gaming revenue for a combined 23 commercial casino and video lottery terminal markets rose to $44.9 billion in 2019, an increase of 4.3% over 2018, according to the Adams Revenue Revue.
Of that figure, $13 billion came from legal sports betting; double activity’s total in 2018.
“Although there was one less Friday in 2019 than in 2018, December revenue was up 4.4% over 2018, to $3.871 billion nationwide,” Reno-based gaming analyst and consultant Ken Adams wrote in the monthly newsletter, which he produces for CDC Gaming Reports.
However, compared to December 2018, when only one jurisdiction, Louisiana, reported a gaming revenue decrease, in December 2019, eight jurisdictions registered drops, from a low of 1% in Indiana to a high of 31.8% in Maine.
Still, gaming followed the national trends during the month, Adams noted. Some 115.6 million people traveled during the final week of December; shopping hit record levels; the stock market ended on an uptrend; while unemployment rates, jobs, average income, consumer confidence, housing sales, and other economic measurements were positive.
“Overall,” he wrote, “2019 was a good year,” with Encore Boston Harbor opening, construction of new resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, Illinois and Pennsylvania entering periods of major growth, and sports betting growing by leaps and bounds.
When it came to individual jurisdictions, New Jersey had a banner year. Total gaming revenue was up nearly 20% to $3.4 billion, with casinos up 7% and the online gambling win up nearly 62%. For the year, Atlantic City ranked second nationally in revenue, with a 7.5% market share.
Nevada, of course, placed first, with total gaming revenue of $12.02 billion, third highest on record, though up slightly less than a percentage point over 2018. Nevada’s market share was down from 28.1% in 2018 to 26.8% in 2019.
Pennsylvania came in at No. 3 nationwide, with $3.4 billion in total gaming revenue, up 4.4 percent year over year. The Keystone’s State’s market share was 7.6%.
Fourth nationally was Louisiana, with $3.08 billion, down 2.3%, and a 6.9% share. Illinois placed fifth with $3.02 billion, up 5.4%, with a 6.7% share. And New York was sixth, with $2.72 billion, up 5.1%.
In Massachusetts, revenue was up significantly due to the opening of Encore Boston Harbor in June. Though MGM Springfield revenues were down 12% from 2018, Massachusetts gaming revenues were up 143% over 2018, placing it at No. 14 in national gaming revenues.
Adams said there were 14 states with legal sports betting at the end of 2019. Six additional states authorized sports betting in 2019 and will begin taking wagers in 2020.
“Sports wagering, combined with online gambling, has saved the industry in Atlantic City, and these two are beginning to be as important in Pennsylvania,” Adams wrote. “As 2019 ended, sports betting was clearly the most important new trend the industry has seen in a very long time.”
CDC Gaming Reports distributes the Adams Revenue Revue to premium subscribers.
