On May 16, the American Gaming Association (AGA) officially unveiled its State of the States 2023 report, offering the final state-by-state economic and regulatory analysis of US commercial gaming in 2022 for policymakers, gaming stakeholders and industry onlookers.

In addition, it also revealed that US commercial gaming income hit a quarterly record of $16.60 billion in Q1 2023, the eighth consecutive quarter that has broken industry records, as shown by its Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. Furthermore, the quarter was marked as the industry’s highest-ever grossing month, with $5.90 billion in March.

Most important data from the Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker:

AGA’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker offers state-by-state and cumulative insights into the financial performance of the US commercial gaming industry based on state profit reports. However, this release highlights results for the first quarter of 2023, in which thirty four states and the District of Columbia had operating commercial gaming markets, involving casino gaming, sports wagering and iGaming.

Moreover, the AGA’s State of Play Map shows the economic effect of gaming, industry regulations and casino locations on a state-by-state basis for the commercial and tribal gaming divisions.

Additionally, across the US, 18 of 35 commercial gaming markets posted new profit records this quarter, with only Mississippi holding on to its Q1 2022 quarterly profit. Each vertical of commercial games had quarterly income records in Q1 2023. Therefore, retail gaming accounted for 75.3% of total income, while online gaming had the highest share ever, 24.7%. Looking further at each division:

  • Traditional Gaming: Traditional brick-and-mortar casino gaming collected quarterly income of $12.30 billion, topping the previous high of $12.26 billion in Q3 2022;
  • Legal Sports Betting: Americans nationwide spent a record $31.11 billion on sports in Q1 2023, collecting a record of $2.79 billion in quarterly income (+70.1% year-over-year). Growth compared to Q1 2022 was highly driven by the launch of new markets in Kansas, Massachusetts and Ohio.
  • iGaming: iGaming earned $1.48 billion in Q1 2023, a 22.7% year-over-year profit increase.

In this regard, AGA President and CEO Bill Miller, said: “After two full years of successive growth post-COVID, the U.S. gaming industry has never been stronger. With record growth across every gaming vertical—from brick-and-mortar casinos to mobile gaming—American adults continue to choose gaming as one of their top entertainment options.”

State of the States 2023 highlights:

The State of the States report, published annually by the AGA, offers details on the financial performance of the commercial gaming industry, involving analyzes of the 35 jurisdictions with commercial gaming operations in 2022, individually. The report, created with VIXIO GamblingCompliance, also offers an overview of the legality of gaming types and the number of casinos by state, summarizes the main gaming policy discussions and provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges for the industry.

Additionally, it unveils that commercial gaming collected a record $13.48 billion in direct gaming tax income paid to state and local governments in 2022, up 15.3% from 2021. However, that does not involve billions more paid in revenue, sales or other taxes.

In this regard, Miller added: “As one of the biggest taxpayers in states across the country, we know that when gaming is successful, so are our communities. Beyond our significant tax contributions, our industry is engrained in local communities, bolstering economic development through job creation, supporting local charities and nonprofits, and setting the standard on corporate responsibility.”