The American Gaming Association reported today that for a second consecutive quarter, the U.S. commercial gaming industry set a new quarterly record for gross gaming revenue (GGR), powered by an 80.6% YoY increase in sports betting revenue.
For a second consecutive quarter, the U.S. commercial gaming industry set a new record for gross gaming revenue (GGR), with a number of $15.17 billion surpassing the $14.81 billion set in Q2 2022, which was powered by a rise in legal sports betting action.
The new quarterly revenue record also represents a substantial 8.8% YoY gain over the third quarter of 2021, further indicating that the U.S. appetite for gaming continues its relentless growth.
That is the picture drawn by the Commerical Revenue Tracker report released today by the American Gaming Association (AGA). The statistical roundup also revealed that 16 of the 33 commercial gaming states that were operational a year ago similarly reported all-time record quarterly GGR highs in the third quarter, including five of the six largest U.S. gaming markets: Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana.
In addition, GGR figures for the first nine months of 2022 are 14.9% higher than those for the same period in 2021: Confirmation that the U.S. is on target to establish yet another annual GGR record in 2022.
“While business challenges remain, high consumer demand continues to fuel our industry’s record success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller in a statement. “Our sustained momentum in the face of broader economic volatility points to gaming’s overall health today and provides confidence as we look to the future.”
Another of the key drivers in this quarterly revenue record was that sports betting in Q3 2022 also established a new quarterly revenue record of $1.68 billion — this represents a staggering 80.6% increase over the same period last year, which the report partially attributed to “a high sportsbook win percentage and solid growth in existing markets.”
That impressive rise in hold rates saw sportsbooks post a hold of 10.5% for the quarter, well above the 7.5% reported in Q2 and 6.0% in Q1.
This improved metric is directly attributable to the increasing popularity of parlay betting across the U.S., which has seen all the major sports betting sites strive to raise the ratio of parlays to single-bet wagers as the surest means of improving profits.
The report also drew attention to how sports betting revenue — excluding the new markets (which includes New York) — posted a 33.3% gain from the same period last year, while revenue for the first nine months of 2022 rose to $4.78 billion, up from the $4.34 billion in 2021.
The YTD numbers were boosted by the addition of nine new states into the regulated U.S. sports wagering market since the beginning of the year, and three more states will likely go fully live within the next few months:
The only exception to the pattern is California, which saw both sports betting bills fail in yesterday’s mid-term elections.
The only slightly disappointing result found in the AGA report came in the iGaming sector, in which the posted revenue of $1.21 billion missed setting a new quarterly record by less than 1%. However, that number still represented a solid 28.5% gain from Q3 2021.
For the first nine months of 2022, iGaming generated $3.62 billion in revenue which the AGA said keeps the vertical on target to “join slots, table games, and sports betting in posting record revenue in 2022.”
Retail slots and table games generated the bulk (81%) of third-quarter gaming revenue growth, accounting for a record $12.27 billion of the overall total, a 1.8% increase year-over-year.
YTD 2022 revenue for the sector came in at $35.94 billion, an appreciable 8.1% gain over the first nine months of last year and reflecting recovery in the post-COVID era.
The final quarter of 2022 will benefit from record levels of wagering on NFL games, the launch of the NBA and NHL seasons, the conclusion of the MLB playoffs, and a rare winter occurrence of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which runs from November 20 to December 18.
Most industry experts expect the World Cup to generate massive betting interest in both the U.S. markets and the Canadian province of Ontario, given that Canada will be competing in the tournament and this will be the first time that American bettors can legally place bets online for the competition.
Last month, the AGA projected that the total sports betting handle for 2022 will “likely surpass the $100 billion mark.” Today’s report underscored that bullish assessment.
“Despite macroeconomic pressure and tough year-over-year comparisons, consumer spending on gaming entertainment was resilient, keeping the industry on course for a second consecutive record-breaking year.”
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