Eight months into 2023 and the gaming industry is still going gangbusters. The rest of the economy is a mixed bag, as the country struggles with inflation, labor shortages, stock-market declines, war anxiety, and economic uncertainty. None of that is visible in the gaming numbers. In August, the total gross gaming revenue (GGR) was $5.3 billion, up 7.5 percent from 2022. Year to date, the GGR was $44.2 billion, up from $39.7 billion for the first eight months of 2022.
It is safe to say that gaming has fully recovered from COVID. Other challenges may await just over the horizon, but the skies were clear in August. Igaming is still demonstrating organic growth, up 30 percent over August 2022. Sports betting’s growth has come, for the most part, from the expansion of states offering mobile wagering. Ohio, for example, was up 20 percent due to the legalization of mobile sports betting. Regardless of the cause, the handle in August was up 15 percent. By any measure, it was a good month and a record for August.
August 2023 Casino, Sports, Igaming and VLT Revenue
Arkansas GGR rose 9.7% to $55.2 million. Racing Commission, 9-23
Colorado GGR fell 1.8% to $120.0 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Connecticut GGR fell 0.56% to $106.1 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Florida VLT revenue fell 2.1% to $54.1 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Illinois gaming revenue rose 4.9% to $361.2 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Indiana gaming revenue fell 5.8% to $217.7 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Iowa casino revenue fell 2.9% to $156.6 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Kansas gaming revenue rose 23.4% to $40.0 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Kentucky HHR revenue rose 29.9% to $66.8 million. Racing Commission, 9-23
Louisiana gaming revenue rose 2.2% to $258.6 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Maine gaming revenue rose 2.7% to $15.2 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Maryland gaming revenue rose 8.0% to $186.2 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Massachusetts gaming revenue rose 31.3% to $120.6 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Michigan gaming revenue rose 7.1% to $280.1 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Mississippi gaming revenue fell 2.6% to $203.4 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Missouri gaming revenue fell 2.8% to $156.3 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Nevada gaming revenue rose 0.07% to $1.209 billion. Gaming Commission, 9-23
New Jersey gaming revenue rose 12.9% to $531.6 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
New York gaming revenue rose 2.1% to $352.2 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Ohio gaming revenue rose 20.1% to $235.4 million. Lottery/Gaming Commission, 9-23
Pennsylvania gaming revenue rose 7.4% to $457.1 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
Rhode Island gaming revenue fell 3.5% to $56.6 million. Gaming Commission, 9-23
South Dakota gaming revenue fell 1.1% to $43.0 million. Gaming/Lottery Commission, 9-23
Virginia gaming revenue rose 122.0% to $110.7 million. Gaming/Lottery Commission, 9-22
Total gaming revenue rose 7.5% to $5.393 billion. CDC Gaming Reports, 10-22
Year-to-date gaming revenue rose 11.2% to $44.256 billion. CDC Gaming Reports, 10-22
The other categories:
Macau gaming revenue rose 686% to $2.12 billion. Reuters, 9-1-23
Igaming revenue rose 30.8% to $516.3 million. CDC Gaming Reports, 9-23
Sports betting revenue rose 5.9% to $521.9 million. CDC Gaming Reports, 9-23
Horse racing handle fell 7.3% to $1.107 billion. Daily Racing Form, 9-23
Dow Jones Industrials fell 2.3% to 34,721.91. Yahoo Finance, 8-31-23
Adams’ Index fell 1.9% to 999.67. CDC Gaming Report, 8-31-23
The results by jurisdiction
Arkansas had a total of $55.2 million in GGR in August 2023, up from $50.3 million in 2022. The state has three casinos, from which was $53.6 million as compared to $49.3 million in 2022. Sports GGR was $1.6 million in 2023 and $1.0 million in 2022. Sports handle for the month was $22.5 million, up from $10.1 million a year ago.
Colorado casino and sports revenue in August was $120.0 million, as compared to $122.3 million in 2022. Casino win for August 2023 was $94.2 million and $96.5 million in 2022; slot GGR was $80.1 million. Black Hawk reported $72.7 million, Cripple Creek $14.9 million, and Central City $6.5 million. Colorado sports win was $25.8 million on a handle of $306.0 million; the August 2022 win was $25.8 million on a handle of $290.1 million.
Connecticut total gaming revenue for August was $106.1 million as compared to $106.7 million in 2022. Slot revenue in August was $72.0 million as compared to $74.9 million in 2022. Igaming revenue was $24.9 million as compared to $21.9 million in 2022. Sports betting generated $9.2 million. The handle in 2023 was $91.3 million as compared to $80.0 million in 2022.
Illinois combined casino and VLT revenue in August was $367.4 million as compared to $344.2 million in 2022. The state’s 14 casinos reported $124.4 million in win as compared to 11 casinos reporting $117.3 million in 2022. Slot revenue in 2023 was $95.1 million, up from $87.4 million; table games generated $29.2 million as compared to $29.8 million. In 2023, 920,942 people were admitted to the casinos compared to 790,979 in 2022. The VLT in August win was $236.8 million compared to $226.9 million in 2022. There were 46,470 units in 2023 and 43,876 in August 2022. Illinois reports sports revenue too late to be included in the total GGR.
Indiana sports and casino combined revenue was $217.7 million in August as compared to $231.2 million in 2022. The state’s 12 casinos generated $194.1 million in casino win as compared to $205.8 million in 2022; 14,023 slot machines generated $162.2 million as compared to $168.4 million from 14,475 slots in 2022. Table-game win from 587 games was $31.9 million as compared to $37.4 million from 636 games in 2022. Sports win was $23.5 million on a handle of $238.0 million. The sports win was $25.4 million on a handle of $215.6 million in August 2022.
Iowa combined casino and sports revenue in August was $156.6 million as compared to $161.3 million in 2022. The casino win was $143.1 million compared to $146.9 million. Slot coin-in was $943.9 million and GGR was $102.4 million. Table-game GGR was $13.9 million compared to $15.9 million. There were 1,429,906 admissions in August. Sports win was $13.5 million on a handle of $141.2 million as compared to a GGR of $14.4 million and $122.5 million handle in 2022. The internet handle in August was $131.9 million with a win of $11.6 million as compared to an internet handle of $110.1 million and internet win of $11.7 million in August 2022.
Louisiana combined sports, casino, and VLT revenue in August was $258.6 million compared to $253.9 million in 2022. Riverboat revenue was $136.0 million, down from $134.6 million in 2022. Land-based Harrah’s New Orleans reported a win of $17.9 million, slot machine win at the racetracks was $25.0 million, and VLT win from the state’s 11,883 machines was $61.6 million. Admissions to the riverboats, racinos, and Harrah’s New Orleans were 1,640,203 as compared to 1,607,496 in 2022. The GGR from sports betting was $18.1 million on a handle of $153.9 million as compared GGR of $9.4 million and handle of $128.2 million in August 2022.
Maryland combined casino and sports revenue was $196.2 million in August as compared to $172.4 million in 2022. In 2023, slot revenue was $109.0 million, table games generated $53.2 million, and sports GGR was $24.9 million on a handle of $263.7 million compared to $112.6 million from slots, $56.7 million from tables, and $3.2 million from sports on a handle of $18.6 million in 2022. For August 2023, MGM National Harbor generated $68.3 million, $39.2 million from slots and $29.1 million from table games; in 2022, MGM generated $71.8 million in total GGR. Live! Casino GGR was $55.0 million, $39.5 million from slots and $15.5 million from tables; in 2022, the total win was $56.8 million. The Horseshoe Baltimore had $15.4 million in win, a slot win of $10.6 million, and tables $4.7 million; in 2022, the total win was $17.2 million. Hollywood had $7.1 million, $6.0 million from slots. Ocean Downs generated $10.0 million, $8.8 million from slots, and Rocky Gap had a win of $5.3 million.
Massachusetts gaming revenue in August was $120.6 million, up from $91.8 million in 2022. Casino revenue was $97.9 million. Sports generated $23.4 million on $320.7 million in handle; sports betting in Massachusetts began in January 2023. Encore Boston Harbor generated $61.3 million as compared to $58.0 million in 2022. Encore slot revenue was $35.9 million and table games $25.3 million. MGM had a GGR of $23.5 million and $21.9 million in 2022. MGM table-game win was $5.0 million and slots contributed $18.4 million. Slots only at Plainridge Park had revenue of $13.0 million as compared to $11.9 million in August 2022.
Michigan gaming revenue from casinos, sports, and igaming in August was $280.1 million as compared to $260.9 million in 2022. Casino revenue was $104.5 million as compared to $104.8 million. Igaming revenues were $152.2 million as compared to $130.9 million in 2022. Sports wagering revenue was $23.4 million on a handle of $228.4 million as compared to $25.4 million and $229.7 million in handle in July 2022.
Missouri casino revenue in August was $156.3 million as compared to $160.9 million in 2022. The slot win was $136.3 million from a coin-in of $1.402 billion; table games win was $19.7 million. Admissions were 2,390,615 as compared to 2,410,500 in 2022. By market, the win in August 2023 in the Kansas City region was $55.4 million, down 2.4 percent, St. Louis $76.9 million, down 4.5 percent. The Out of State market reported $23.7 million in win as compared to $22.8 million in August 2022.
Mississippi casino and sports-betting revenue in August was $203.4 million as compared to $208.9 million in 2022. Casino revenue was $200.8 million as compared to $206.3 million in 2022. Sports win was $2.6 million on a handle of $21.9 million as compared to GGR of $2.6 million and $21.2 million in handle. Slot coin-in was $2.193 billion with a win of $167.6 million, a 7.6 percent win, as compared to coin-in of $2.138 billion and a win of $169.8 million, 7.9 percent. Table-game drop was $161.7 million with a win of $26.6 million, a hold of 16.4 percent, as compared to a table drop of $162.8 million and a win of $30.4 million, 18.6 percent in August 2022. By region, the coastal casino win was $128.5 million, the northern casinos reported $45.2 million, and the central casinos won $27.0 million as compared to Coastal at $137.0 million, Northern $44.3 million, and Central $24.8 million in August 2022.
New Jersey casinos and racetracks reported a combined GGR of $531.6 million in August from casinos, igaming, and sports betting. The GGR was up 12.9 percent from $470.7 million in 2022. Casino revenue for the month was $280.3 million, up 2.3 percent. The casino slot win was $210.5 million, up 3.0 percent and table game win $69.7 million, up 0.3 percent. The igaming win was $155.3 million as compared to $131.4 million in 2022. Sports win was $96.0 million as compared to $65.3 million. The sports handle was $725.8 million compared to $546.7 million in August 2022.
Borgata had a total win of $117.9 million, the casino win $73.0 million, internet $40.2 million, and sports $4.7 million as compared to $120.7 million in total win with a casino win of $71.9 million, igaming $41.8 million, and sports $6.9 million in August 2022. Resorts and Resorts Digital had a combined win of $116.8 million; casino revenue was $17.6 million, digital revenue $99.2 million ($42.2 million from igaming and $56.9 million from sports). Golden Nugget had a win of $54.0 million; casino win was $13.1 million and internet win $40.8 million. Hard Rock won $59.2 million; online and sports revenue was $8.4 million and casino revenue $50.7 million. Caesars and Caesars Interactive combined for $28.6 million. Tropicana posted $33.0 million, Harrah’s $24.4 million, and Bally’s $23.3 million in GGR as compared to $20.1 million in August 2022.
New York gaming revenue from sports, VLT, and casinos was $352.2 million in August as compared to $344.9 million in 2022. The sports win was $99.6 million; the handle was $1.118 billion. The mobile books won $98.5 million from a handle of $1.112 billion. The VLT revenue was $194.7 million as compared to $184.9 million in 2022. Resorts World reported $55.4 million in gaming revenue, Nassau OTB $21.9 million, Empire City at Yonkers $48.2 million, Saratoga Casino $13.1 million, Finger Lakes Gaming $10.4 million, Hamburg Gaming $5.8 million, Vernon Downs $2.7 million, Batavia Downs $7.1 million, Jake’s 58 $23.4 million, and Resorts World Hudson Valley $6.0 million. The four casinos reported a win of $59.0 million as compared to $60.4 million in 2022. Resorts World had a win of $19.5 million, Tioga Downs $8.7 million, del Lago Resort $13.2 million, and Rivers Casino $17.6 million.
Nevada casinos reported $1.209 billion in August 2023 as compared to $1.208 billion in 2022, an increase of 0.07 percent. The Las Vegas Strip reported $666.7 million in gaming revenue as compared to $659.7 million in 2022. Las Vegas had an estimated 3.3 million visitors in August as compared to 3.1 million in 2022. Harry Reid International Airport reported 4.6 million passengers as compared to 4.6 million in August 2022. There were 647,600 conventioneers as compared to 394,100 in 2022. Hotel occupancy was 80.3 percent as compared to 76.8 percent in 2022 and the average daily room rate was $158.47 a night as compared to $148.09 in 2022. Las Vegas had 3,780,600 occupied room nights as compared to 3,598,400. Highway daily vehicle count averaged 127,266.
For August 2023, downtown Vegas had casino revenues of $64.0 million, the Boulder Strip $82.9 million, North Las Vegas $23.0 million, and Laughlin $34.4 million. Reno reported $68.7 million in GGR as compared to $67.2 million in 2022. Sparks casinos won $15.3 million, up from $14.6 million in 2022. Sparks had one additional casino in 2023. The North Lake Tahoe win was $2.4 million and South Lake Tahoe $26.5 million as compared to $29.7 million in 2022. The Elko County win was $33.1 million, the “Other” $17.7 million, and the Carson Valley area $11.2 million as compared to $11.4 million in August 2022.
By game type, the August win in Nevada was: twenty-one $99.0 million, baccarat $116.2 million, craps $36.2 million, and roulette $39.8 million. Slot machine win was $829.2 million as compared to $825.0 million in 2022. In August 2023, Nevada’s sports books won $18.1 million on a handle of $431.5 million; in 2022, the sports win was $16.0 million and the handle $408.9 million.
Ohio casinos, racinos, and sports generated $235.4 million in GGR in August 2023 as compared to $195.9 million in 2022; Ohio did not have sports wagering in 2022. In August, the sports GGR was $40.7 million and the handle $378.7 million. The casino revenue in August was $82.3 million, compared with $84.2 million in 2022. The slot win was $60.0 million and table games had $22.3 million. By property, the results for the four casinos were: Jack Cleveland $22.2 million, Hollywood Columbus $22.1 million, Hard Rock Cincinnati $19.6 million, and Hollywood Toledo $18.3 million. Racino revenue was $112.4 million, up from $111.7 million in 2022. Belterra Park reported a win of $6.8 million, Eldorado Scioto Downs $18.4 million, MGM Northfield $25.9 million, Hollywood Dayton $13.5 million, Hollywood Mahoning Valley $13.2 million, Jack Thistledown $15.2 million, and Miami Valley $19.1 million.
Pennsylvania reported total gaming revenue of $457.1 million in August 2023 as compared to $425.3 million in 2022. By category, the win from retail slots was $203.1 million, retail table games $82.6 million, online slots $105.2 million, online tables $37.2 million, sports $22.0 million in taxable revenue; total sports GGR $30.6 million with handle at $393.0 million. Online poker GGR was $2.4 million, retail VLTs $3.4 million, and fantasy sports $0.7 million.
By property, including retail and online gaming, the total revenue was Hollywood at Penn $75.2 million; Parx $56.9 million; Valley Forge $48.8 million; Wind Creek $47.1 million; Rivers Philadelphia $48.1 million; Rivers Pittsburgh $30.0 million; Hollywood at the Meadows $24.3 million; Mount Airy $20.3 million; Mohegan Sun $19.0 million; Live! Philadelphia $22.4 million; Harrah’s $19.7 million; Presque Isle $8.8 million; Live! Pittsburgh $9.4 million; Hollywood York $7.9 million; Hollywood Morgantown $7.0 million; Lady Luck $2.1 million; Parx Shippenburg $2.7 million; and Bally’s Pennsylvania $2.1 million.
South Dakota casino, VLT, and sports revenue was $43.0 million in August as compared to $43.5 million in 2022. Casino revenue was $15.6 million as compared to $15.7 million in 2022. VLTs won $27.4 million and $27.8 million in 2022 million. In August, South Dakota sports betting recorded a win of $37,453 and $518,052 in handle.
Virginia reported $110.7 million in GGR in August. Casino GGR was $55.0 million. Hard Rock Bristol generated $13.8 million, Rivers Portsmouth $21.5 million, Caesars Virginia in Danville $19.6 million. The sports win was $27.9 million. The handle for August was $319.0, in August 2022 handle was $284.6 million with a gross win of $36.9 million. There are 2,634 historic horse racing machines. August GGR was $27.8 million.
Igaming revenue from six states in August was $516.3 million as compared to $394.7 million in 2022. New Jersey reported $155.3 million versus $131.4 million in 2022, Michigan $152.2 million versus $130.9 million, Pennsylvania $171.9 million versus $107.9 million, Connecticut $24.9 million versus $21.9 million, West Virginia $10.8 million versus $10.8 million, and Delaware $1.1 million versus $1.3 million in August 2022.
Twenty-seven states have reported sports-betting handle and revenue for August 2023. The handle was $5.634 billion with a win of $521.9 million (9.1%) compared to a handle of $4.899 billion and $419.7 million win (10.4%) from 25 states in August 2022. Ranked by handle, the top five states were New York $1.118 billion, New Jersey $725.8 million, Nevada $431.0 million, Pennsylvania $393.0 million, and Ohio $378.7 million. Ranked by win, the top five were New York $99.2 million, New Jersey $96.0 million, Ohio $40.7 million, Pennsylvania $30.6 million, and Virginia $27.9 million.
With Illinois and Arizona included, the adjusted handle for July 2023 was $5.885 billion and GGR was $613.3 billion. In July, Illinois reported $595.0 million in handle and $60.4 million in GGR. Arizona reported $323.2 million in handle and $35.3 million in win.
August generated $5.3 billion in GGR and like the other months in 2023, it was a record month. August 2023 was the best August ever, but by a smaller margin as the comparisons become more difficult due to the growth strength of the final months of 2022. One simple answer for the monthly increase is an increase in states reporting. In August, Arkansas and Virginia accounted for $165 million of the increase; Virginia reported only sports last year and this year, the Virginia numbers include three casinos and 2,600 historical horse racing machines. The strong growth curve of igaming accounted for $121 million of the increase and the increase in states with mobile sports betting added another $82 million. That adds up to $368 million and the total increase over 2022 was $378 million. Year-to-date growth is down to 11 percent as compared to 20 percent in January.
