US gaming saw highest-grossing month yet in July

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker data for July showing a new record.

US.- The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker results for July. The report analises state-by-state and nationwide insights into the gaming industry’s financial performance for the month.

July saw the commercial gaming sector extend its record-setting run with revenue from traditional casino gaming, sports betting and igaming reaching $4.83bn.

Revenue was up 29.6 per cent compared to the same month in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, surpassing May as the industry’s highest grossing month ever.

While the return of summer leisure travel propelled gaming revenue, the month also benefited from five weekends and the Fourth of July holiday. July also marked the first full month since the start of the pandemic in which casinos in all 25 commercial gaming states could operate at full capacity.

Gaming revenue was up 6.5 per cent as the industry once again outperformed the broader U.S. economy, which saw consumer spending slow to 0.3 per cent. According to the report, July marked the fifth consecutive month of double-digit gaming revenue growth over 2019 – the industry’s strongest year to date.

After the first seven months of 2021, commercial gaming revenue stands at $29.60bn – nearly matching the $29.98bn generated in all of 2020 and 17.4 per cent ahead of the same period in 2019. At the state level, 19 out of 24 commercial gaming states (excl. Florida) are ahead of 2019 gaming revenue levels.

Visitors return to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 3.3m people visited the city in July, down 10.4 per cent from July 2019, but up 11.2 per cent sequentially from June and the highest monthly visitation count since the pandemic began.

Visitation statistics show that air passengers arriving in Atlantic City increased 13.3 per cent from June, while Atlantic City Expressway toll transactions jumped 11.5 per cent.

Igaming continued to grow alongside traditional gaming’s recovery. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, and Michigan reached $305.8m in igaming revenue in July, 1.8 per cent behind the monthly record set in March 2021.

Combined revenue from sports betting and igaming accounted for 11.1 per cent of all US commercial gaming revenue in July, down from 13.8 per cent in June and the lowest level since September 2020.