August 2021 Commercial Gaming Revenue

The U.S. commercial gaming industry’s record-setting pace continued into August as casinos benefited from robust summer travel and a favorable calendar with two extra weekend days compared to 2019. Combined revenue from traditional casino gaming, sports betting, and iGaming reached $4.44 billion, up 19 percent from August 2019. August revenue was down 9.8 percent from July’s record of $4.92 billion due to declines in both traditional and sports betting revenue.

Overcoming a slow start to the year, August was the sixth consecutive month with more than $4.4 billion in commercial gaming revenue, making March through August the industry’s six highest-grossing gaming months ever. Through August, total 2021 commercial gaming revenue stands at $34.15 billion, surpassing the $29.98 billion generated in 2020 and 18 percent ahead of the same period in 2019.

Gaming revenue grew in 20 of 25 states compared to August 2019. Four states saw modest revenue declines—Kansas (-8.3%), Oklahoma (-4.7%), Rhode Island (-4.5%), and West Virginia (-5.0%)—while Louisiana dropped 28.2 percent as Hurricane Ida forced many of the state’s southeastern casinos to close toward the end of the month.

After the first eight months of 2021, 19 of 25 commercial gaming states are tracking ahead of 2019 gaming revenue levels.

Nationwide revenue from traditional casino games totaled $3.92 billion, up eight percent from August 2019, with slot revenue once again expanding at a faster rate (+14.1%) than table game revenue (+1.1%). At the state level, brick-and-mortar casino revenue is up from 2019 in 17 of 25 states.

In the first eight months of 2021, traditional casino games generated $29.48 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent from the same period in 2019. The growth comes even with traditional gaming revenue down 9.9 percent from July to August.

Average traditional gaming revenue per admission continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Available data from four states—Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, and Missouri—shows monthly casino win per visitor up between 20.5 and 34.4 percent from August 2019 averages, while the number of admissions decreased between 7.3 and 30.5 percent from July 2021.

Revenue generated by iGaming markets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, and Michigan was flat compared to July at $304.6 million. The continued summer lull in the sports betting calendar limited handle to $3.06 billion, with sportsbooks generating $217.3 million in revenue, the lowest grossing month of 2021, but up 68 percent from August 2020. Combined revenue from sports betting and iGaming accounted for 11.7 percent of total U.S. commercial gaming revenue in August, unchanged from the previous month.