The American Gaming Association has stated that US commercial gaming achieved its third-straight year of record revenue in 2023, which included an all-time quarterly high to end the year.
According to the AGA’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, total GGR for 2023 came in at $66.5bn, a 10 per cent increase in comparison to 2022’s $60.5bn.
The year also concluded with a fourth quarter total GGR of $17.42bn, up 9.5 per cent year-over-year. Q4 2023’s December was also the highest-grossing month in industry history with $6.2bn in revenue, a 13.3 per cent uptick YoY.
Every gaming vertical across the industry, during Q4 and across 2023, saw improvements in comparison to the same period the previous year.
Including tribal gaming revenue, which will be reported later this year by the National Indian Gaming Commission, US gaming revenue for 2023 is expected to close in on $110bn.
AGA says gaming demand is at an ‘all-time high’
Commenting on the results, AGA President and CEO, Bill Miller, said: “From the traditional casino experience to online options, American adults’ demand for gaming is at an all-time high.
“Sustaining our momentum will take unified industry efforts around combating pernicious illegal operators and growing responsible gambling efforts in tandem with the growth of the legal market—both of which the AGA is committed to lead on throughout 2024.”
Analysing per vertical GGR for Q4, slots grew by 3.6 per cent to $8.77bn, table games increased by 6.7 per cent to $2.7bn, igaming rose by 20.6 per cent to $1.68bn and sports betting rose by 30.8 per cent to $3.41bn.
Looking at GGR across the verticals in 2023, the AGA stated that slots and table games both achieved individual annual records. Slots rose by 3.8 per cent YoY to $35.51bn, while table games improved by 3.5 per cent to $10.31bn.
Operational across 37 (32 commercial) states and the District of Columbia by the close of the year, sports betting achieved new handle and revenue records in 2023 of $119.8bn and $10.92bn respectively, increasing by 27.8 per cent and 44.5 per cent YoY respectively, with a national hold percentage of 9.1 per cent (2022: 8.1 per cent).
Across the six states with a full-scale legal offering, igaming increased by 22.9 per cent to $6.17bn.
Each of the six states produced new records in annual igaming revenue. Michigan and New Jersey each generated $1.92bn (Michigan ahead by $115,500), followed by Pennsylvania with $1.74bn.
Record GGR for brick-and-mortar
Combined, brick-and-mortar casino slots and table games achieved a record GGR in 2023 of $49.4bn, up 3.3 per cent YoY, with 19 out of 27 traditional gaming markets posting record annual revenue on a state level.
Including retail sports betting, land-based gaming accounted for 75.3 per cent of the total GGR declared in 2023 at $50.02bn, while online gaming generated 24.7 per cent of the total revenue at $16.43bn.
Furthermore, 19 out of the 27 states offering traditional casino gaming witnessed an uptick in combined revenue from slot and table games compared to 2022, with 15 earning new state revenue records.
Out of the top 20 commercial casino markets, 12 reported YoY revenue growth in 2023. The Las Vegas Strip sat at the top of the leaderboard in terms of revenue and annual change at $8.8bn and 7.2 per cent respectively, followed by Atlantic City ($2.86bn, 2.5 per cent) and Chicagoland ($2.19bn, 2.5 per cent).
Baltimore-Washington DC had the biggest drop in annual change on the year at 4.3 per cent, which the AGA said was due to “intensified regional competition”.
At the property level, 11 of the top 20 highest-grossing commercial casinos out of Nevada and Mississippi saw an improvement in combined land-based gaming revenue from slot machines, table games and retail sports betting compared to 2022.
Resorts World NYC led the way, followed by MGM National Harbor, Encore Boston Harbor, Borgata and Live!.
Commercial gaming operators paid an estimated $14.42bn in gaming taxes throughout 2023, up 9.7 per cent YoY. In Q4, commercial gaming operators paid an estimated $3.72bn in taxes, an 8.5 per cent increase.
Miller added: “Gaming’s success translates directly to the success of the states, cities and towns in which we operate.
“We are proud to be in 47 US jurisdictions, acting as economic drivers, creating jobs and providing the funding that makes critical public education programs, infrastructure projects, problem gambling resources and more possible.”
