The gambling industry, both in regard to physical and iGaming casinos, continues to experience a huge amount of growth within the United States of America, as record numbers continue to be produced.
According to a recent report to have been produced by the American Gaming Association, it had been found that a record $53 billion in revenue had been managed to be rung up by the country’s casinos and the gaming mobile apps that are available to use.
The $53 billion total is up a total of 21% on the previous record that had been set back in 2019, which of course had been just prior to the issue that had wiped out much of the globe. Nonetheless, the new figures show that the industry has managed to bounce back ten-fold and is enjoying an entire new boom.
“Remarkable” year and optimistic about the future
The CEO and president of the American Gaming Association, Bill Miller, had described 2021 as a “remarkable” year and admitted that he is really optimistic about what the future holds for the industry.
In a press conference held on Tuesday, he announced: “Our incredible rate of recovery sets us apart from others in the hospitality sector and the broader economy,” before adding: “I’m really optimistic about where we’re headed. That optimism is rooted in our industry’s extraordinary recovery, topping $50 billion for the first time ever.”
New states have influenced the rate of growth being experienced
Naturally, much of this growth has been due to the fact that there were seven new markets to have been made available between 2020 and 2021. Each of them, but Delaware, also managed to hit an annual wagering record, with New Jersey continuing to lead the way across both sports betting and iGaming activities as they ranked first for the second year in a row. The state managed to generate $815 million in sports betting revenue, whilst also managing to generate over $1 billion in iGaming activities.
Pennsylvania is another state that has been able to set new records since permitting iGaming and sports betting activities. Indeed, punters in the state are now able to use real money online casino Pennsylvania platforms legally and enjoy a range of incredible games and it seems many are already doing so. The state was able to rank second in regard to iGaming (generating over $1 billion in revenue like Michigan) whilst also ranking highly in regard to sports betting revenue generated, too.
iGaming as a whole is continuing to bring in more money, though, with six states that permit the activity reporting that they managed to generate more than $3.71 billion in revenue, which was up 139% from 2020. Interestingly, the Native American-owned tribal casinos are yet to report any figures, but it is claimed it could be as much as $40 billion.
Las Vegas remains king as in-person casinos continue to lead
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Las Vegas Strip remains the king of American gambling, with the city has been able to generate more than $7 billion in gross gaming revenue last year, whilst Atlantic City came second as they generated around $2.6 billion whereas the Chicagoland area managed to rank third as they generated just over $2 billion.
Indeed, it was an exceptional year for many of the gaming jurisdictions located within the States, as 23 of the 34 managed to set new full-year gaming revenue records in 2021.
However, whilst mobile sports betting is the newest industry to have been able to experience a huge boom, in-person gambling is still one of the top revenue streams for the gambling industry. It was found that revenue totaled $45.62 billion when combining slot games, table games, and physical sportsbooks together, which accounted for a total of 85% of the gambling revenue accrued.
It was found that slots still remain highly popular with the market, as revenue had managed to increase by 10% over 2019, whereas table game revenue had only managed to see a rise of just 1.1%. Furthermore, each market that had a physical casino that provided the aforementioned activities had managed to see its revenue increase from 2020, whereas 15 managed to beat the numbers they achieved in 2019.
Gambling appears to have become popular with punters, as consumers are now spending at a higher rate than they once did. Sports betting has seen a huge increase in revenue, with Americans having wagered a record $57.22 billion on sports in 2021; an increase of 165% on 2020 that saw an all-time high of $4.29 billion be brought in.
2022 could be a huge year
If anyone had thought that 2021 was a big year, then 2022 could be extraordinary for the industry, especially as there are a number of regions that are looking to potentially introduce a number of new legislations.
Seven states that compromise of California, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Oklahoma are all discussing whether to introduce sports betting, whereas four states are looking at the possibility of permitting iGaming activities, with states such as Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and New York all pondering whether to do so or not.
Indeed, if even California and New York were the states to be the only ones to give the go-ahead, then the entire gambling industry will be able to benefit in an extraordinary way, given the populations of both regions.
