Due to the fallout from Covid-19, 2020 may turn out to be a wash for the United States casino industry.
But in the annual “State of the States” report issued June 3, the American Gaming Association noted that, prior to the health crisis, commercial gaming revenues in the U.S. had increased every year for five consecutive years, and rose 3.7 percent from 2018 to 2019.
The commercial casinos were aided in part by a continuing expansion of sports betting, with more than $13 billion wagered legally last year.
Tribal casinos, which were not included in the report, posted revenues of $33.7 billion in fiscal 2018, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier.
“Within a span of 11 days, the commercial casino industry went from continued record-breaking growth to complete shutdown,” said Bill Miller, the AGA’s president and CEO. “The American gaming industry has never faced a bigger challenge. But we have proven time and again that we are resilient.”
The report tracked gambling activity in the 25 states with commercial casinos and found that 21 of them posted yearly revenue increases in 2019; according to the Associated Press, 14 of those states set records for casino revenue last year: Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Rhode Island.
Moreover, the industry paid nearly $10.16 billion in gaming taxes, the first time that figure has ever surpassed $10 billion in the U.S.
The rising tide was propelled in part by sports betting, legalized in all 50 states in a 2018 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. So far, according to the AGA report, 20 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation allowing legal sports betting. Sportsbooks generated $908.9 million 2019, twice what they won in 2018. The boost was especially game-changing in New Jersey, and helped the state reclaim its former position as the nation’s No. 2 gambling market after Nevada, a title it had ceded for a time to neighboring Pennsylvania.
Sports betting lifted markets around the U.S., the study affirmed: New York saw a 5.5. percent bump to $2.73 last year. Mississippi was up 2.8 percent to $2.2 billion, and Rhode Island was up grew percent to $668.4 million.
At the end of 2019, there were 524 tribal casinos operating in 29 states, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission, compared with 465 commercial casinos in 25 states.
