The gaming industry in the US is booming, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, which showed Q3 2021 to be the best ever quarter for the industry, beating the previous high set in Q2 2021.
In total, gaming operators around the country reported $13.9 billion in revenue, 53.8% higher than the same quarter in 2020 (impacted by COVID-19), and 24.7% higher than the same quarter in 2019. The figures include traditional casino games, sports betting and iGaming.
Sports betting totaled $886.5 million in Q3 2021, up 153% from the year-ago quarter and up 270% from Q3 2019. The sports betting total does not include Arizona revenue from September, which had not been reported when the AGA made its report.
The industry has now had two record months in a row, with each quarter of 2021 being more successful than the last. Overall, gaming in the US has not had a month with less than $4.4 billion in reported revenue since February, with the overall revenue for the first nine months of the year totaling $38.7 billion.
2021 is on track to become the record year in US gaming history in terms of revenue.
Which states were dominant?
Commercial casinos are available in 25 states and 10 of those reported a record quarter in Q3 2021, including the big four: Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Both Clark County and the Las Vegas Strip recorded the biggest quarterly gaming win at $3.2 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively.
Only two commercial casino states, Louisiana and Kansas, reported a drop in gaming revenue compared to Q3 2019. The 10.8% drop in Louisiana can be attributed to Hurricane Ida shutting down casinos for a couple of weeks, while the Kansas drop of 1.8% is relatively negligible.
Traditional casino games on the rise
Last year was a difficult one for the gaming industry, with casinos completely or partially closed down for months on end. With casino gaming now back on track, records are being shattered left and right.
Brick and mortar gaming reported $12.1 billion in quarterly revenue in Q3 2021, a significant growth of 11.8% compared to Q3 2019. Year-to-date, the sector has generated $33.3 billion, 4.7% more than the same period in 2019.
Within the casinos, it is slot machines that are growing faster than table games in terms of revenue. While slot revenue remains very close to that reported in Q2 2021, it was 15.2% higher than Q3 2019.
Looking at states individually, 20 of the 25 states in which commercial casinos are available reported a revenue increase compared to the pre-pandemic quarters, with only Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan and West Virginia reporting slight decreases.
Local casinos appear to have steady visitation rates from their local customers in states like Illinois and Missouri, while destination casino markets like Las Vegas and Atlantic City are still gaining momentum. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, Las Vegas reported the highest visitation rates per quarter, although they have not yet reached the pre-pandemic levels.
While the visitation rates may be down a bit in Las Vegas, the higher spending of those who do visit casinos has managed to offset the lack of visitors, actually bringing the revenues up and making Q3 2021 the most successful commercial casinos have had to date.
