The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker report for August, which forecasts another "record-setting year" for the U.S. gaming industry and online sports betting.
U.S. gaming revenue soared in August as total spending on land-based casino gaming, legal sports betting, and iGaming reached $4.89 billion. This represents a 10% year-over-year increase over 2021 and a new record for the month.
Sportsbooks delivered by far the greatest YoY revenue growth within the gaming industry, recording $471.4 million in revenue in August, up more than double (116%) from the same month last year.
According to the report, this explosive increase derived substantially from six additional states going live since last August, in addition to the nationwide organic growth experienced in "all but two markets" — Delaware (-34.5%) and Montana (-7.2%) — which offer very limited sports betting options, most of which were already up and running at the same point a year ago.
Over the course of the first eight months of 2022, commercial gaming revenue totaled $39.21 billion, representing an equally impressive 14.9% increase over the same period last year.
The figures reflect how sports betting in the U.S. continues to grow, despite the current inflationary environment and fears of a recession. Another significant statistic emanating from the AGA report is that August marked the 18th consecutive month of positive year-over-year gaming revenue growth in the U.S.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller greeted the release of the Tracker report with an enthusiastic tweet:
Despite the business challenges posed by macroeconomic conditions, gaming is well on its way to another record-setting year—a testament to the strength of our industry. https://t.co/p6D1jM7FXL
— Bill Miller (@BillMillerAGA) October 19, 2022
Sportsbooks continue to prosper
For the first two-thirds of 2022, U.S. sportsbooks generated close to $4 billion in revenue, a substantial 70% increase over the same period last year, while the year-to-date handle reached $56 billion, an even greater 86% gain over the January-August handle from 2021.
Year-to-date iGaming revenue, as of August 31, stands at $3.21 billion, up 40% over the same period last year. Online wagering and iGaming revenue accounted for 17.9% of total U.S. commercial gaming revenue in August, an increase from the two previous months despite the traditional summer lull in sports betting.
Full-year gaming industry revenue projected to reach $100 billion
These latest gaming industry results bode well for the year as a whole. In addition to the seasonal earnings boost issued from combined wagering activity on NFL, college football, NBA, and NHL games, as well as the MLB playoffs, Q4 sports betting revenue will benefit exceptionally this year from the added action from this year's FIFA World Cup, which runs from November 20 to December 18.
Most industry experts believe that this year's World Cup will attract an unprecedented level of interest in the U.S., given that this will be the first time that American bettors will be able to place legal bets online on the event.
The AGA now projects that the total sports betting handle for 2022 will "likely surpass the $100 billion mark," provided that there is no unexpected slowing in wagering growth in Q4.
This is yet another milestone for a burgeoning gaming industry that will see an additional three states — Maryland, Ohio, and Massachusetts — go fully live in 2023, with Missouri also expected to join the bandwagon by the middle of next year.
All but four jurisdictions experienced YoY revenue growth
The AGA Tracker report, which collects data from retail casinos, online sportsbooks, and iGaming operators, also revealed that 27 of the 31 commercial gaming jurisdictions that were operational a year ago experienced YoY revenue growth compared to August 2021.
Only four states saw their gaming markets contract: Delaware (-20.8%), Massachusetts (-0.4%), Mississippi (-0.2%), and Montana (-9.1%).
The only mildly disappointing result from the report was the flat August handle figure of $4.54 billion when compared to July, both months reflecting the traditionally weak period in U.S. sports activity — but even this result still represents a YoY gain of 48.6%.
