US commercial gaming revenue plummets to lowest mark since 2003
| By Daniel O'Boyle
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has revealed that total commercial gross gaming revenue in the US in 2020 came to $29.98bn, the lowest figure since 2003.
Slots made up the majority of sales, but this total was down 33.8% to $18.87bn. Table game revenue came to $5.09bn, meanwhile, down 39.4%.
Despite the suspension of all major sports for a large portion of the year, sports betting GGR was up 68.9% to $1.53bn, thanks mostly to new state markets opening up. Online gaming GGR rose the most sharply, tripling to $1.55bn.
The AGA said 2020’s drop in revenue was unprecedented.
“The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the gaming industry, with GGR contracting by nearly one-third (31.3%) year-over-year, overshadows previous slumps,” it said. “During the Great Recession, gaming revenue decreased by a comparatively mild 8.4 percent during the span of two years.”