AGA Commercial Revenue Tracker in November 2021

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has published its latest figures, courtesy of the association’s commercial gaming revenue tracker. The numbers for November 2021 revealed that in terms of overall gaming activity, the month was the second-highest-grossing month since AGA started tracking this activity.

Surpassing the $4BN-Mark

There was a total of $4.85 billion in commercial gaming revenue registered over the month, and November alone was the ninth consecutive month during which the gaming revenue had beaten the four-billion-us-dollar threshold.

Following the complete collapse of gambling in 2020, 2021 has been a bumper year for gambling companies and casinos in the United States. While the December revenue is yet to be reported, the total annual amount is sitting at $48.34 billion, including the November results. That is 21.3% ahead of the 2019 results already.

The majority of gambling jurisdictions in the United States expanded compared to results from November 2019. The only states to contract were Kansas (-10.6%), New Mexico (-9.1%), and Louisiana (-6.3%). On top of that, ten states had already surpassed their full-annual revenues through November 2021, including Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.

However, AGA admits that visitation levels are still ailing and nowhere near their 2019 levels. This has not stopped slots and table games per casino admission from continuing to beating pre-pandemic levels, which points to a pent-up demand that has translated into bigger spending on casino floors.

Across the United States, slots and table games revenue generated $3.83 billion, which is only in the retail segment, or up 12.2% from November 2019. Breaking down these numbers on a year-to-date through November basis, slot and table games hit $41.08 billion compared to the industry’s full-year results in 2019, which were sitting at $42.24 billion.

Sports Betting and iGaming Results Surge

The return of the National Football League (NFL) naturally pushed the sports betting revenue to $66.1 million, the highest reported by the industry, or up 112.8% from November 2020. There were various reasons behind this, not least the legalization of more states where sports betting was allowed as well as better market penetration by established companies.

Louisiana’s first full month of wagering activity definitely impacted results positively, generating some $5.7 million in revenue, not much but a boost, nevertheless. Meanwhile, iGaming in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware continued to surge, with $345.8 million reported in November or up 124.2%. The revenue from iGaming and sports betting together was up 20.9%, which is the highest on record for these two segments combined (bar the months of April and May 2020). AGA described both iGaming and sports betting as a nascent segment.