Americans’ taste for gambling has fully returned and exceeded previous demand since the outset of the COVID pandemic, both in the casino and sports betting industries.
Key Details
- The Nevada Gaming Control Board says its casinos’ grossed $1.28 billion in gambling revenue for the month of October.
- This marks the 20th consecutive month of monthly revenue exceeding $1 billion, Forbes reports.
- Gambling revenues increased year-to-year by 4.8% and have increased beyond pre-pandemic levels, increasing 20% since October 2019. Nevada’s gambling industry is expected to surpass 2021’s gross of $13.4 billion, with early indicators suggesting a 12.3% increase in monthly revenue to the previous year.
- Sports betting specifically increased by 17.7% year-to-year and grossed $56.9 million.
Why it’s Important
As we previously reported, sports betting is becoming a more mainstream and lucrative industry with major companies like ESPN negotiating partnerships with major sports betting companies like DraftKings. Reports claimed that the companies were close to signing a deal in October that would make DraftKings the official partner of the network—even allowing the company to take on the ESPN name.
FanDuel has even been looking to grow its market share by expanding into sports television with a new 24/7 sports channel.
“Once again, sports and entertainment helped Sin City continue its growth streak. The Las Vegas Raiders played two home games at Allegiant Stadium in October, the South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series was held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Eddie Vedder, Usher, and Van Morrison drew big crowds to the Park MGM, and the Colosseum,” says Forbes.
The Las Vegas Strip hasn’t needed help returning to pre-pandemic levels of tourism and revenue though as Americans return again following the pandemic. Casino revenue is up 31.1% from October 2019.
Notable Quote
“You can’t complain when we’re 20 straight months of a billion-plus in revenue. It’s a continued recovery and the new standard,” says B Global managing partner Brendan Bussmann.
