The American Gaming Association (AGA) released the trade group’s 2024 Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker this week, which offered some insight not just on overall U.S. commercial gaming revenue but also an in-depth look at casino markets around the country, as well as sports betting.
Despite the overall growth seen in the report, uneven regional performance saw just six of the top 20 commercial casino gaming markets grow in size. Simply put, gamblers are starting to stay home more often, rather than travel.
The Las Vegas Strip remains the top market in the country despite a 4.4% contraction while downtown Las Vegas and Reno/Sparks showed gains. Atlantic City remained the country’s second-ranked market, despite contracting 1.7%.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller said although there has been declines in certain markets, the industry is still on a positive footing and has some momentum.
“Looking back at 2024 and ahead to 2205, we have every reason to be confident about gaming’s continued success and our positive impact,” he said.
A Look At Other Markets
Boosted by new property openings, the Chicagoland area retained its position as the third-largest market with the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area in fourth. Detroit bounced back from labor disputes in 2023 for that market’s highest yearly revenue total since 2019.
At the individual property level, 12 of the top 20 highest-grossing commercial casinos outside of Colorado, Nevada, and Mississippi saw an uptick in combined land-based gaming revenue compared to 2023.
Resorts World New York City remained the highest grossing commercial property outside Nevada for the second year in a row. MGM National Harbor (Maryland) and Encore Boston Harbor (Massachusetts) round out the top three, unchanged from 2023.
Outside those, Rivers Casino Portsmouth (Virginia) became one of the highest grossing properties in the country in just the second year of operations.
Among the 36 commercial gaming jurisdictions operational in 2023, 28 saw combined revenue growth from land-based casino games, sports betting, and online casinos – with all posting new annual records.
Several sports betting-only markets saw declines, including Montana (-16%), New Mexico (-3.5%), Ohio (-0.9%), New Hampshire (-1.5%), Mississippi (-2%), Missouri (-1.7%), Iowa (-1.7%), and Florida (0.5%).
At the state level, 14 of the 27 states offering traditional casino gaming saw an uptick in combined revenue from slots and table games compared to 2023. A few notable markets saw major surges in traditional gaming, including Nebraska (60.1%), Virginia (32%), and Illinois (11%), all driven by new property openings.
Sports Betting Revenue Nears $14 Billion
Along with individual gaming markets, the report also looked at how some of those fared in the sports betting arena. Americans legally wagered $147.91 billion on sports in 2024 (much of it on parlays), up 23.6% from 2023. More than 95% of that was online. The increased handle drove nationwide sports betting revenue to $13.71 billion in 2024, 25.4% higher than the previous year.
Sports betting revenue was helped by a slightly higher hold percentage at 9.3% in 2024, compared to 9.1% in 2023.
By the close of 2024, sports betting was legal in 38 states and Washington D.C., including 34 commercial jurisdictions where public data is available. Missouri legalized sports betting at the end of 2024, but hasn’t yet launched, and Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma may soon follow.
New York remains the country’s top sports betting market with $2.1 billion in revenue for 2024, up 23%. Illinois passed New Jersey to become the second-largest sports betting market after seeing 21.1% growth in 2024 to $1.2 billion.
New Jersey remains in third with $1.1 billion, seeing a year-over-year increase of 14.2%. Massachusetts was also notable, moving up two spots to seventh position with revenue increasing 38.8% over 2023. Ohio finished fourth, but was the only region in the top 10 sports betting markets seeing a revenue decline, falling 3.9%.
North Carolina and Vermont were new sports betting markets in 2024 and combined for $605.6 million in revenue. Despite not launching until March, North Carolina is now among the country’s top 10 states by revenue in ninth with $583.6 million.
