Share
As far as the US commercial gaming industry goes, broken records are becoming like broken records. The American Gaming Association says that according to its data, the third quarter of 2022 saw yet another US commercial gambling record.
All non-tribal gaming across the country set a new high mark for revenue, besting the second quarter’s previous summit. While brick-and-mortar casinos were again the heavyweights during Q3, online casinos and sports betting more than pulled their weight.
AGA says Q3 2022 set new US commercial gambling record
The second quarter of this year had set a high bar for all non-tribal regulated gaming channels in the US. However, the third quarter of this year (July-September) cleared it with room to spare.
The AGA says the $15.17 billion in revenue that those gambling companies reported in Q3 is about 2% better than what the same collected in Q2 ($14.81 billion). That $14.81 billion was the quarterly record until the AGA compiled the numbers for Q3.
Additionally, $15.17 billion in Q3 2022 represents a year-over-year improvement of almost 9%. The biggest driving factor behind the growth? Traditional poker, slots, and table games at brick-and-mortar commercial casinos in the US.
Those games ed for $12.27 billion or about 80.8% of Q3’s total. Compared to the same months in 2021, that’s an increase of 1.8%. It’s also no surprise for several reasons. August 2022 was the best month ever for commercial gaming in of revenue.
Additionally, the third quarter of 2022 saw new retail casino markets come to life, namely Nebraska and Virginia. Lastly, some commercials in the third quarter of 2021 were still dealing with lingering COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that they did not face in Q3 2022.
While brick-and-mortar continues to operate as the industry champ, US online casinos also further proved they are no slouch.
Online casinos nearly crack their ceiling
The AGA adds that commercial and legal online casino and online poker revenue in Q3 2022 amounted to $1.21 billion. That figure is less than a percentage point shy of the still-standing highwater mark for the segment set in Q2 2022.
Not falling just short of a new quarterly high was in-person and online sports betting. During Q3 2022, the AGA says legal sportsbooks won more than $1.68 billion. That’s a new record for any quarter and an improvement of 80.6% from Q3 2021.
Again, launches in new markets are responsible for that growth. In Q3 2021, online sportsbooks were not operational in New York, for example. The record sportsbook revenue helped 16 states with legal commercial gambling set new quarterly highs for themselves.
From a larger perspective, all this activity keeps 2022 on pace to be the best year ever for commercial, legal gambling companies in the United States. Sports betting revenue from the first nine months of 2022 has already topped the same from all of 2021.
Additionally, physical casino and online casino revenue for the first three quarters of this year are up 6.2% and 38.1% respectively compared to the same period in 2021. There’s no guarantee that Q4 2022 will break Q3 2022’s new revenue record. At this point, though, a failure to set a new mark might be more newsworthy.
