The American Gaming Association (AGA) has praised the industry's latest results, as the commercial gaming sector continues to deliver strong performance across the board.

In its quarterly update of the Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, the AGA highlighted that the industry has sustained growth well into the second quarter of 2024, with gains recorded across all key performance indicators, including total gross gaming revenue, traditional casino gross gaming revenue, sports betting gross gaming revenue, and iGaming gross gaming revenue.

US Gambling Industry Continues to Drive Strong Quarterly Gains

Virtually every sector of the industry has expanded over the past three months, driven by robust trends within their respective verticals. Both the commercial and digital segments have contributed to creating a more resilient industry, achieving growth across all critical areas.

Traditional casino GGR reached $12.49 billion in the quarter, marking a 1.8% increase. Meanwhile, sports betting surged by 35.3%, and iGaming grew by 25.2%, generating $3.16 billion and $1.97 billion respectively for these two segments. The exposure to online consumers has been a significant factor in the growth of these sectors.

Commenting on these results, AGA VP of Research David Forman expressed his satisfaction with the figures from both the land-based and digital sectors. He specifically highlighted the standout areas of growth and interesting trends observed during the quarter:

“While sports betting and iGaming continued to drive overall industry revenue growth in the second quarter, new brick-and-mortar property openings in Illinois, Nebraska and Virginia also led to rising traditional commercial gaming revenue.”

However, Forman also cautioned that the sector is experiencing a slight slowdown in land-based gaming markets, with mixed year-over-year results as slower consumer spending has impacted bottom lines. Despite this, most land-based operators remain optimistic about the future, with multi-million-pound projects, such as Caesars Virginia, still progressing.

Year-to-date results have also been encouraging. The first half of the year saw total gross gaming revenue reach $35.48 billion, representing a 7.7% increase. Traditional casinos contributed $24.83 billion, reflecting a modest 1.1% growth. As Forman noted, the land-based sector has indeed shown signs of slowing down slightly.

Online Gambling Continues to Grow Rapidly But Lags Behind Commercial Gaming

So far this year, iGaming and sports betting have been the standout performers, generating $3.95 billion and $6.67 billion respectively – representing 25.6% and 28.7% growth year-over-year. While these numbers are still considerably lower than the traditional casino sector, they suggest a sustained appetite for online gambling.

Although sports betting is expected to reach maturity in the near future, more states are only now beginning to consider online casinos – a potentially more popular avenue for online gambling.

The AGA has been a fervent advocate for the industry, monitoring economic trends while also addressing significant challenges, such as illegal gambling, which poses a threat to the regulated market.

However, in the case of commercial gambling, the main concern has been the impact of reduced consumer spending due to fears of inflation.