The casino and hospitality industry as a whole went through a rough period over the past 12 months or so, but it was expected that the recovery would come quickly once it started as prior bookings remained high an interest for visitors remained larger than ever too – it comes as no surprise then that brick and mortar casinos around the world and particularly in the US are posting some of the highest numbers ever seen with the American Gaming Association releasing commercial casino figures for Q3 in 2021. Commercial gambling across 31 states with commercial gambling legalised had managed to total nearly $14 billion, a 24.7% increase on the same three-month period between July through September in 2019, and a 53.8% on the same time in 2020.
This record growth has been seen in 10 states with the highest growth seen, with Las Vegas having experienced its best three-month period in history with approximately $2.06 billion in casino winnings – with the end of the year quickly approaching, it is widely expected that these numbers will only continue to grow for both US gambling and Las Vegas as a whole to have the best year in history for gambling and primed for 2022 to also have extremely impressive figures.
It’ll largely be an impactful 2022 through the changing regulations that are currently happening across the country as online gambling and online sports betting in particular are looking to expand, reports of some of the biggest entertainment operators in Vegas looking to explore new options could see some well-developed online platforms to emerge and with the increasing accessibility will lead to very high numbers – with the AGA already forecasting 2021 numbers will beat all-time numbers, the expansions in 2022 will inspire a lot of confidence for a second record breaking year both in the online and offline space.
Numbers are still coming in from the individual casinos too around the US with their own numbers which gives perspective to the growth, looking at the market as a whole can be dizzying in providing something more accurate but seeing casinos directly reporting their numbers makes the growth and recovery seem all that more impressive – but now will also be a time for increased scrutiny with another story emerging of the Bicycle Casino not filing payments properly back in 2016 and experiencing a new fine, the growing successes in casinos will need to be handled properly to ensure no other big fines for poor record keeping are delivered.