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US Casino Industry Outdid 2009 Performance

Posted on May 10th, 2011

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Despite of the global recession that recently wreaked havoc to the US market, the casino industry of the scored a slight increase of its revenue in 2010, according to a survey conducted by the American Gaming Association (AGA). The report reflected a nearly one percent increase from its performance in 2009. The commercial casinos of the nation collectively generated a total of $34.6 billion gross gaming revenue for 2010.

According to AGA’s President and Chief Executive Officer the one percent increase is a good sign but not “indicative of a complete recovery”. He said in a conference call with the gaming writers in relation to the result of the survey. He further stated that the recovery would take time as the nation is still catching up from the global recession that hit the worlwide economy. “This recovery is going to be slow and laborious, particularly because the national economy is still struggling to fully emerge from the recession. As consumer discretionary spending goes, so goes our industry. We’re not out of the woods yet, but this modest increase coming after two years of declining revenues is significant,” he says.

The AGA named the report “State of the States” and was released last week. The report includes an intensive report of the performance of the casino industry both in the state level and to the nation as a whole. It outlinbed how the worldwide recession affected the commercial casino industry last year. It also ranked various states- 22 states to be exact- according to the gaming revenues each have contributed to the nation’s coffers. The report further presented how the changes in the past year affected the employment rate of each state.

According to the report, Nevada casinos generated a total revenue of $10.4 billion from $10.39 billion in 2009, a slight decline of roughly one percent. The state continued to see a decline in its employment rate since 2008 with trend as follows: In 2010 it decreased by 1.3 percent from its 2009 performance, In 2009 it decreased by 12.3 percent from its 2008 performance. Furthermore, Nevada registered $835.42 million in tax revenues in 2010, an increase from its participation of $831.75 million in 2009. New Jersey on the other hand recorded the biggest decline, showing a 9.4% drop from its performance in 2009. In spite of the decrease, it maintained its second-place spot next to Nevada with $3.94 billion in revenue. The state suffered most from the global recession and the sprouting competitors from its neighboring regions.

Contrary to the dismnal performance of New Jersey, Pennsylvania shoots up in the rank showing a 26.4 percent increase in revenue. The increase was credited to its casino that opened in September 2010 (The Sugarhouse Casino in Philadelphia) and the introduction of table games in the state. The state opened its first casino in 2007. “The varying increases and decreases from state to state show that the industry is far from monolithic,” Fahrenkopf said. Overall, the United States’ commercial casino industry employed a total of 340,564 people in 2010, a makred improvement from its record in 2009 with only 328,377. The commercial casino industry is also helping a lot to the nation’s economy. In 2010, it contributed $7.59 billion in tax revenues, a 3 percent increase from its 2009 contribution to the nation’s coffers.

The report also mentioned that the Las Vegas strip remains to be the top US gambling market and contributed huge tax revenues to the country, $5.77 billion in 2010, and an increase of 4 percent from 2009. It is followed by The Boulder Strip giving $757 million and Downtown Las Vegas putting in $493 million.
The report also posted something new which was not included in its report in 2009; it included a section on public opinion on the casino industry. The survey exhibited that 31 percent of Americans frequent casinos in 2010 and 25 percent of that responded that they engaged in gambling during their stay. The survey further showed that 73 percent of all casino visitors said that they ate at fine dining restaurant, 53 percent went to shows/concerts and others for shopping, clubbing, and other activities offered in respective casinos.