US Casinos Had Their Best July Ever, Raking in Nearly $5.4B from Gamblers

According to a report recently released by the American Gaming Association, commercial casinos in the United States had their most successful July on record, raking in almost $5.4 billion in revenue from gamblers. This is an increase of almost 6% from July 2022. The report also states that casinos are on track to achieve their most successful year yet, with a total of nearly $38 billion in revenue from in-person casino games, sports betting, and online gambling in the first seven months of 2023, an increase of 11% from the same period in 2022.

The American Gaming Association also revealed that revenue from traditional in-person casino games in July alone reached a new monthly record of $4.4 billion. This was due in part to post-COVID travel trends and the opening of several new physical casinos across the country, including in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Sports betting revenue in July reached almost $498 million, up by more than 28% from the previous year, while internet gambling revenue in six states – Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia – reached almost $481.5 million, an increase of nearly 23%.

Out of the 31 commercial gambling states that were operational a year ago and have complete data available, 21 posted year-over-year revenue growth in July. Only five states reported lower revenue from casinos in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the previous year: Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Figures in the report do not include revenue from tribal-run casinos - like Mohegan Sun in Connecticut - which report

their earnings separately. However, the report does show that combined revenue from online sports betting and internet gambling rose by 25.2% in July compared to the previous year. In contrast, revenue growth from land-based casinos remained steady at 2.5% in both June and July, after remaining flat for the previous three months.

Year-to-date commercial sports betting revenue reached $5.46 billion by July, an increase of more than 63% from the same period in the previous year. Over that same period, internet gambling revenue reached $3.45 billion, up by 22.6% from the previous year. Overall, the data shows that the gambling industry in the United States continues to grow and expand across various platforms.

That means that we should be doing more to prevent and treat problem gambling.