The American Gaming Association (AGA) trade group has announced that last year saw the 465 commercial casinos in the United States record a 3.5% increase year-on-year in aggregated gross gaming revenues to reach an all-time high of $41.7 billion.
Illuminating inquiry:
The figures from the members-based organization are contained in the latest edition of its Annual State of the States report, which was developed in partnership with business intelligence firm Gambling Compliance, and showed that the industry had experienced a fourth consecutive year of revenue growth.
Community champions:
The AGA works to educate and lobby on behalf of the gaming industry at many levels and used an official Tuesday press release to herald the annual results contained in its investigation as indicative of an industry that had ‘outpaced the national economic growth rate in 2018’. It also stated that the sector had contributed approximately $9.7 billion in state and local taxes during the twelve-month period although this was subsequently complemented by ‘billions more in sales, income and other taxes that benefit communities’.
Pervasive progress:
The organization additionally declared that ‘nearly every’ one of the 24 American states that hosted commercial casinos last year had chalked up comparable gains in annual aggregated gaming revenues while twelve of these jurisdictions had recorded their best ever figures.
Bill Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer for the AGA, used the press release to declare that the 2018 figures showed how the commercial casino industry had ‘reaffirmed its role as an economic powerhouse in the United States’ and contributed to numerous ‘economic and social benefits’.
Sportsbetting spur:
In addition, the AGA proclaimed that the decision by the United States Supreme Court to invalidate the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May of 2018 had led to a ‘rapid expansion’ in legalized sportsbetting. It detailed that this vertical of the industry had recorded aggregated gross gaming revenues for 2018 of $430.2 million, which represented an almost 65% rise year-on-year, and is expected to become an ever larger contributor as even more states pass legislation to decriminalize and regulate sports wagering.
Miller’s statement read…
“Growth in the commercial gaming sector enables the industry to continue to reinvest in communities, enhance partnerships with small businesses and non-profits and provide career opportunities for nearly two million American workers.”
