US commercial casinos win USD 3.4 B in September

The casinos across two dozen states had combined gaming revenues of more than US$ 3.4 billion, according to data compiled by the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The industry, which excludes tribal-run casinos, saw revenue from gambling increase year-over-year by 2.8 percent.

Nevada contributed US$ 979.8 million to the nationwide win, or about 29 percent. Silver State gaming win was up 3.2 percent compared to September 2016. The performance for those casinos was fueled by a record US$ 558.2 million wagered on sports in September. The Sept. 16 mega-fight match between boxing stars Canelo Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin drew about US$ 30 million worth of bets at Nevada sports books, helping set an all-time betting high.

Outside of the U.S. gambling capital, Ohio saw a strong month with gaming win growing nearly seven percent year-over-year to US$ 146.3 million. Illinois did as well, with gaming win of US$ 227.3 million representing a 10.1 percent gain. Maryland, as has been the case since the MGM National Harbor casino opened in December 2016, saw gaming win grow by a huge percentage in September. Revenue of US$ 134.5 million was a 38.5 percent increase year-over-year. Pennsylvania reported a solid gain of 3.8 percent to US$ 271 million in winnings.

Atlantic City casinos had a strong month after taking a step back in August. September gaming win of US$ 235.8 million was up 4.1 percent. Internet gaming grew 25.2 percent to US$ 20.3 million.
West Virginia has been hit hard by Maryland’s gains. The state’s casinos won US$ 47.8 million in September, down 4.3 percent. Revenue there is down 5.8 percent on the year. Several other states, including Mississippi and Maine, also had year-over-year slides.

Through the first nine months of 2017, the commercial casino industry won more than US$ 31.5 billion from gamblers, up about three percent compared the same period last year.

The data doesn’t include gaming revenue from the nation’s federally-regulated tribal casino industry, which wins about US$ 30 billion annually. A commercial casino is a land-based, riverboat, dockside or racetrack facility operated by private companies under licenses from state governments, according to the American Gaming Association.