Casino expansions lift US Q2 GGR

The American Gaming Association (AGA) stated that casino expansions in states such as Illinois, Nebraska and Virginia drove the increase. This led to traditional casino GGR improving by 1.8% to $12.49bn.

However, there were also sharp rises in sports betting and igaming GGR.

Sports betting GGR rocketed by 35.3% year-on-year to $3.16bn in Q2, while igaming GGR increased by 25.2% to $1.97bn.

Q2 record

In total, it was the 14th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth and the highest-grossing Q2 revenue performance on record. However, the total figure was slightly below the quarterly commercial gaming revenue record of $17.7bn registered in Q1.

Over the first six months of the year, total GGR was up 7.7% to $35.48bn. Traditional casino GGR was up 1.1% to $24.83bn, while sports betting GGR improved by 28.7% to $6.67bn and igaming GGR rose by 25.6% to $3.95bn.

Quarterly revenue from land-based gaming, comprising casino slots, table games and retail sports betting, reached $12.57bn. This was a 1.6% increase on Q2 last year.

Online growth “moderating”

Online gaming revenue growth, including igaming and online sports betting, increased 32.5% year-on-year versus growth of 21.8% in Q1.

However, the AGA said total online revenue growth is “moderating” with the 32.5% expansion below nearly 44% a year earlier. Additionally, online gaming made up 28.6% of commercial gaming revenue, down slightly from the past two quarters.

Furthermore, commercial gaming operators paid an estimated $3.73bn in taxes tied directly to gaming revenue, a 4.0% year-on-year increase.

The AGA published the figures through its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, which collects data from state regulatory reports.

Of the 33 jurisdictions to have complete data available until the end of June, 24 increased Q2 revenue versus 2023. Oklahoma registered the largest contraction in Q2 of 8.2%, driven by the closure of storm-damaged Will Rogers Downs in June.