Want proof the gaming industry has recovered from 2020’s downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Look at the year-to-date revenue figures released Thursday by way of the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker.
With most of November’s reporting still outstanding and December’s totals to be determined, 2021 revenue totals $44.15 billion, surpassing the $43.65 billion generated in all of record-setting 2019.
The upswing in gaming revenue has boosted coffers in 23 of the 25 states that host brick-and-mortar casinos. Also, six states — Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Dakota – have surpassed annual state revenue records.
For the first ten months of 2021, slot revenue is up 9.8% over the same time-period in 2019 (the AGA uses 2019 figures as comparison for most totals because of reduced capacity or closures at brick-and-mortar sites during 2020). Revenue from table games in the first ten months of 2021 dipped slightly by -1.2%, and sports betting, due to the expansion of legal sports wagering to 32 states and the District of Columbia, increased 359.3%. And igaming, legal now in six states, experienced a whopping 644.6% increase from the first 10 months of 2019.
October’s gaming revenue was $4.75 billion. That’s the second highest revenue total ever, trailing only the $4.93 billion generated in July 2021, and sequentially a 4.8% increase over September 2021 revenue.
October marks the eighth consecutive month that gaming revenue has reached $4 billion or more. Prior to this year, gaming revenue had never topped $4 billion in a single month.
