Commercial casinos in the United States generated more than $40 billion in combined gaming revenue in 2017, a banner performance in which nearly every jurisdiction reported increases over the year before.
The take, compiled in the American Gaming Association’s annual “State of the States” industry overview, enriched state tax coffers by $9.23 billion, 3 percent more than in 2016.
The report notes also that the industry supported roughly 737,450 jobs last year, both directly and indirectly through vendors and support businesses, which amounted to more than $34 billion in wages, benefits and tips.
“This year’s report demonstrates the commercial gaming industry’s ongoing role as a job creator and revenue generator in states across the country, and we’re proud of the industry’s steady growth over the past few years,” the association’s interim CEO Stacy Papadopoulos said.
The revenue total of $40.28 billion represented a 3.4 percent increase over 2016, boosted by a record haul in 11 states—Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island—expanded gaming nationwide and significant new openings in Maryland and New York.
Of the 24 states with commercial casinos, 460 properties in all, 20 reported year-over-year revenue increases.
The Las Vegas Strip maintained its status as the largest market at $6.4 billion, followed by Atlantic City at $2.4 billion and the Chicagoland area, which includes casinos in Illinois and northern Indiana, at $1.97 billion. The Baltimore/Washington, D.C., market, which includes Maryland and West Virginia, took over fourth place from New York City with $1.77 billion, largely due to the 2016 opening of MGM National Harbor. New York City dropped to fifth with $1.57 billion.
Looking ahead, though, there are challenges facing the industry, mainly in the form of “intensifying competition,” the report said, which has led to saturation issues in some markets.
MGM National Harbor, for example, helped drive Maryland to a record $1.6 billion in gaming revenue, a 34 percent increase. However, a few of state’s casinos have reported declines due to the competition.
In New York, new casinos helped grow revenue 16 percent to $2.3 billion, although some properties continue to fall short of their forecasts.
As the AGA put it, “Competitive pressures are set to grow in key commercial states in the coming years.”
The “State of the States” does not include tribal gaming, which totals more than 500 properties nationwide. Earlier this year, the National Indian Gaming Commission said revenues in the tribal sector topped $32.4 billion in 2017, a 3.9 percent increase over 2016.
To download a copy of the State of the States, visit the AGA website at AmericanGaming.org.
