2022 in Review: The Blossoming US Gambling Industry MyrtleBeachSC News
$6,000 Welcome Bonus
Today, the US Gambling Industry is blossoming at an incredible rate.
The 2020s will always be remembered as one of the most historic periods in human civilization. Starting the decade with unprecedented lockdowns and a worldwide pandemic, many people thought nothing could top what was already occurring.
While 2021 saw much of the same compared to 2020, 2022 was unique for a host of other reasons. From the invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces to the death of Her Majesty the Queen, 2022 wrote history seemingly month on month.
In the US, history was also being made. Alongside deepening tensions with China on everybody’s mind, the country faced rising inflation and the market crash of massive tech giants like Meta and Amazon. Likewise, the gambling industry also made history, albeit for different reasons.
When the world stood still in 2020, gambling was one of the hardest-hit industries. With casino doors shuttered and online casinos heavily restricted in the US, players looking to try their luck were left in the lurch with nowhere to go.
Total GGR (Gross Gambling Revenue) for the year fell by a spectacular 31.3% to achieve just $29.98 billion compared to the $43.6 billion recorded in just the country’s physical casinos in 2019. Many people expected the industry to take years to recover, which didn’t prove to be the case.
The gambling industry broke records in 2021, with an incredible recovery from 2020. Recording a GGR of $52.99 billion, the sector increased by 76.7% after casinos reopened. At the same time, various laws affecting—and mainly hindering—online gambling were under review, spurring the industry further.
At the start of 2022, it was hard to believe that the industry could set another record. However, like many other unbelievable events that year, it wrote history by smashing the 2021 record in November, leaving time to spare.
By the end of November, the revenue generated by the industry and recorded by the American Gaming Association was $54.39 billion. Equating to a revenue increase of 13.5% from 2021, this massive achievement showed that more Americans were trying their luck with real money slots than ever before.
Of this vast amount of money, slot machines in physical casinos generated $31.4 billion. The figure proved, yet again, that slots were still most gamblers’ favorite activity in 2022. Not to be left behind, table games accounted for a generous $9.07 billion, an increase of 14% over 2021.
Despite these tremendous figures posted by slots and table games—the staple of any brick-and-mortar casino—the most historic growth was seen in other spaces. The first of these was the iGaming sector.
iGaming, which comprises online casinos and betting, had already been legal in six states that year: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Meanwhile, several additional states, such as Nevada, allow online poker to be enjoyed by residents. However, this is very limited compared to states that have fully legalized online gambling—for example, sites licensed in PA to offer online slots and other casino games offer players a wide range of options.
The online casino market within these states generated a GGR of $4.54 billion, a year-on-year increase of 36.4% that speaks volumes about the market’s popularity.
Growing even faster than iGaming, however, is sports betting. The ability to bet on sports games using online sportsbooks and betting websites has grown incredibly over the last few years, with some sites allowing live betting to take place while a game is happening.
Due to the intense popularity of this form of gambling, sports betting saw an increase of 65.4% from 2021, collecting a total of $6.54 billion for the year. However, the significant increase in this form of gambling wasn’t just due to popularity, as 2022 was a record-making year for lawmakers.
After the ruling that saw the end of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, states were given the autonomy to decide for themselves whether to legalize sports betting and online gambling. While few voted in favor of online casinos since the ruling, 23 states agreed to legalize sports betting.
Of these legal states, Kansas, Maine, and Massachusetts only moved to legalize it in 2022. While these three states managed to boost the industry by allowing access to sports betting, two other states (Florida and California) failed to do so.
Regardless of the failure of two of the largest states to legalize the popular pastime, sports betting in the three new states and those that already had legal access to sportsbooks exploded with new players. The FIFA World Cup in Qatar also boosted bets made on sporting events, with a record 20.5 million Americans stating that they were betting on the outcome of matches.
Continuing such a meteoric rise in the industry may take a herculean effort in 2023. However, with Missouri, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Georgia hoping to legalize sports betting, the industry may be set for another significant boost.
As such, estimates in the industry predict that, given the right conditions and the continuation of the growth seen in 2022, the gambling market may reach a worth of $107.40 billion by the end of the year.
While this may seem like a staunch goal to achieve, the growth seen in 2022 proved that massive leaps and bounds are possible—especially as the world shifts to accept online gambling in many different forms.
