The United States is home to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, two of the most famous gambling cities on the planet. Every state is different, of course, but if there is one place that you might expect the gambling industry to be doing well, it’s the United States. The figures show that is absolutely the case, too.Following a bumpy few years after the 2008 crash, and new innovations in the online space, the American gambling industry is well and truly back on its feet.
The USA Gambling Industry is Booming
Without a doubt, the gambling industry in the United States is booming. Between 2017 and 2018, revenues for most areas of this industry grew. Commercial casinos grew from $41.2 billion to $51.4 billion. Tribal casinos grew marginally from $31.945 billion to $32.801 billion. Poker rooms stayed the same at $1.9 billion, but Lottery revenues declined from $80.55 billion to $72 billion according to Casino Vibez.
Legal bookmaking grew substantially, reaching $430.6 million in 2018 compared to 2017’s $248 million.
Online gambling in the US also grew from $247.5 million to $306.5 million.
Despite a decline in lottery revenue, gambling overall had a fantastic year – and that has continued into 2019. In 2017, commercial casinos in the US generated a total of $41.2 billion. It was a gross gaming revenues record. It was then beaten in 2018, with total revenue of $51.39 billion – an increase of 3.5%T over the previous year.
Las Vegas was, of course, the biggest contributor to these numbers, generating $6.59 billion in 2017. Atlantic City trailed behind with a still substantial $2.51 billion in revenue.
In fact, the entire gambling industry has been growing steadily since 2009. Nevada has led the way the entire time, powered mostly by Las Vegas and its lax gambling laws.
Interestingly, Arkansas is set to see an increase in the number of casinos operating in 2020 too. The casino industry in the state has changed significantly in recent years, with a number of Native American tribes successfully pushing for the opportunity to open new venues. A new Quapaw Nation casino is expected to open in June 2020. Lawmakers passed a law in April that expanded the options available to gamblers in the state, allowing casinos the chance to build more venues and offer more games. The newest casino set to be opened in Arkansas will be 500,000 square feet in size. It will have more than 2,000 slot machines, restaurants, a theater, and 50 table games available to those that come.
This trend is spreading throughout the United States as the economy grows, too. Don’t expect the trend to change any time soon, unless the economy sees another downturn.
Online Gambling is Growing Too
The online gambling industry is massive. Globally, it is worth more than $45.8 billion. In 2016, it was predicted that the online gambling market in the United States would continue growing and eventually be worth $4 billion by 2020. The research calculated the size by taking into account the easing of government regulations and current market trends. It also referenced the wider reach of online gambling.
Online gambling is a difficult issue in the United States owing to the fact that its legal status depends entirely on the state you’re in. Every state is free to regulate or even prohibit online gambling. Under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, financial transactions relating to online gambling platforms was prohibited. However, a number of companies have circumvented the law and continued to provide online gambling services to American companies from a number of different countries with significantly more flexible laws.
Currently, online gambling is legal in just five US states. These are Delaware, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Regardless, many people still access these services and the industry has continued to grow.
Sports Betting Delivers a Big Boost
New Jersey was the first state to adopt new legislation that allowed sports betting in the US, and Atlantic City has begun benefitting from it. Since May 2018, a number of American and European operators have now built sportsbooks into their casinos, and the market is growing. Gambling Compliance, a research firm that specializes in the casino and betting industry, values the market at as much as $8.1 billion in revenue by the year 2024. However, the American Gaming Association currently estimates that the illegal sports betting market is as large as $150 billion. If that’s true, then the market could grow substantially in size and beat expectations.
The sports betting industry is in its gold rush phase, with fortune seekers flocking to places like Atlantic City to see how much they can make. Equally, bookmakers are opening up throughout the state and offering services that have only been available illegally up until now (or through offshore websites, or a sportsbooks in Las Vegas).