Nationwide monthly gambling revenues are soaring as individual states continue warming up to regulated commercial gambling within their borders. According to a report by the American Gaming Association (AGA), January 2023 marked another streak in all-time-high revenues for the US gambling industry.

The AGA Commercial Gaming Revenue (CGR) Tracker revealed that the total revenue collected for the month was $5.5 billion, a 21.1% year-over-year growth from January 2022. This is also a notable increase from December 2022’s $5.43 billion record. Further, the country’s gambling revenue has been consistently growing for 23 months in a row, and January was no different. AGA noted that the January figures are impressive, considering there were fewer weekend days for the month in 2023 compared to 2022.

On the other hand, there have been some changes in the number of states with legalized sports betting, with Ohio, Kansas, Maryland, and Massachusetts introducing sports betting in the past year. This has undoubtedly impacted the rising figures recorded throughout 2022 and, subsequently, in January 2023.

In-Person Betting Still the Bedrock of the Revenue Structure

Growth was reported across all gaming verticals, with sports betting having the highest year-over-year increase and, for the first time, exceeding $1 billion. And compared to January 2022, sports betting gaming revenue saw a 58.2% rise.

Of course, this doesn’t come as a surprise, considering how many states have legalized sports betting in the past year. Moreover, sports betting is expected to continue seeing growth in the foreseeable future as more states open up to including the activity in their revenue streams.

Meanwhile, traditional casino gaming remains the go-to for most casino players, recording the highest collective revenue compared to online gambling. Brick-and-mortar casinos contributed $3.99 billion, of which $2.86 billion was brought in by slot machines and $838 million by table games. This marks a 14.3% increase from 2022 for the overall land-based casino revenue.

It’s worth noting that the shining improvement of land-based casino gaming performance can be attributed to the post-pandemic recovery phase for the industry. For the better part of the last three years, gamblers could not visit casinos in person owing to pandemic-imposed restrictions. Thankfully, gamblers have been allowed to play in person at their favorite casino venues in the last couple of months following mass vaccination drives.

As for iGaming, revenues for the said vertical also rose by 20.6% to $482 million compared to last year.

Growth First Recorded at State Level

The overall CGR reported in January was drawn from revenues across 33 jurisdictions. 31 of these 33 states recorded a year-over-year increase save for Washington DC, which saw a 23.8% decline, and West Virginia, whose revenue dropped by 6.3% compared to the same period last year.

Furthermore, according to AGA, DC’s significant drop can be attributed to the newly established Maryland online betting sector, which has proved competitive. In the case of West Virginia, the most likely cause for the decline is that January 2023 was a week shorter than the same month last year.

The CGR Tracker also focused on the iGaming revenue for some older markets, namely Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, and West Virginia. The quintet collectively brought in $482.0 million from iGaming, a 20.6% jump from the same month in 2022. Of this cluster, Connecticut, Michigan, and New Jersey hit new monthly records.

Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia, all of which have both land-based and online gambling operations, also had significantly higher year-over-year iGaming revenue increases. For example, West Virginia saw a 24.0% rise, while Michigan recorded a whopping 64.4% rise in revenue. However, it’s worth pointing out that Michigan’s report does not factor in income from the 23 tribal casinos in the state, implying an even higher increase.

More Legislations and Lobbying to Improve Industry

To ensure the upward trend persists, AGA has been working closely with legislators and gambling stakeholders to encourage industry expansion in states that have hesitated to regulate some gambling categories. The association has also been aggressive in the fight against offshore bookies. In addition, it has for long petitioned the Department of Justice (DoJ) to take steps to tackle the black market that has been thriving where there are no laws to regulate the industry.

One such petition addressed to US Attorney General Merrick Garland was submitted last year. And although AGA is yet to receive a response, it has been engaging lawmakers, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies on different avenues. They include capacity-building initiatives to highlight the dangers of the black market and why the government needs to shut it down.

The Congressional Gaming Caucus has followed suit in submitting requests to the DOJ regarding offshore sportsbooks and other issues. Most recently, the Caucus has been lobbying for a bill to stop the federal government from collecting the 0.25% excise tax imposed on all legal sports bets.

According to the bill’s co-sponsors US Representatives Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania), eliminating the ‘handle tax’ will help accelerate further growth in the legal market. On that, Rep Titus said in part:

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“With the explosive growth of sports betting across the country, it’s time to finally repeal the handle tax, which penalizes legal gaming operators and punishes sportsbooks for creating jobs. As co-chair of the bipartisan Gaming Caucus, I’m pushing this legislation to keep legal gaming markets thriving nationwide and help local economies reap the benefits of this growing industry.”

Massive Potential for an Even Brighter Gaming Future

The continued success of the American gambling sector is a positive contributor to the overall economy in so many ways. In February, AGA also released the 2022 annual and Q4 commercial reports, revealing the highest revenue yet and bringing some hope to the pandemic-hit sector.

As high revenues continue getting reported in states nationwide, some are getting on board with the expansion idea, looking to benefit from the ever-giving revenue stream. The numbers recorded in January and previous months point to the fact that there is still potential for further growth. For instance, the online gambling and sports betting sectors have a long way to go before they get fully absorbed by the gambling community.

As March Madness season raves on, it is expected that over a quarter of the American population will be placing bets on the matches. AGA recently released a survey estimating that about $15.5 billion will be wagered by the end of the season.