U.S. commercial gaming revenue reached $5.06 billion in July, a year-over-year increase of 2.8 percent. July is the third-highest grossing month of all time for the industry and marks the fourth month in the past five with gaming revenue surpassing $5 billion.

Sequentially, July revenue jumped 8.0 percent driven by an 8.6 percent increase in land-based gaming from June. Revenue from sports betting and iGaming and sports betting gained 7.9 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.

Despite a demanding macroeconomic environment and persistent concerns about the health of U.S. consumer budgets, the commercial gaming industry is well positioned for a second consecutive record-setting year. Through July, commercial gaming revenue reached $34.27 billion, a 15.5 percent increase from the same period in 2021.

While national gaming revenue growth has slowed significantly since the late spring due to more difficult annual comparisons, higher gas prices and increasing interest rates have not resulted a steep drop-off in gaming revenue. The gaming industry has repeatedly weathered high gas prices over the past two decades and although higher interest rates and inflation are impacting operator costs, it does not yet appear to be driving dramatic changes to gaming consumer behavior.

Twenty-one of 31 commercial gaming states that were operational a year ago saw gaming revenue growth from July 2021.

After the first seven months of 2022, just four jurisdictions remain behind their gaming revenue pace compared to the same period in 2021: the District of Columbia (-27.8%), Kansas (-0.7%), Mississippi (-4.6%) and South Dakota (-3.2%). The slowdown in Kansas, Mississippi and South Dakota largely reflects tougher than average comparisons as COVID restrictions in the three states were eased earlier in 2021 than they were in most other jurisdictions.

Nationwide, land-based casino slot machines and table games combined for $4.31 billion in July revenue. Although July was the third highest grossing month for traditional gaming revenue, the vertical was down 0.9 percent versus the same month last year, reflecting the difficult comparisons. Slot revenue generated revenue of $3.03 billion, down 1.4 percent, while table games set a monthly record for the vertical of $966.7 million, up 3.5 percent year-over-year.

Traffic data shows that land-based casino sector benefitted from the seasonal return of summer travel in July. Las Vegas welcomed 3.5 million visitors, up 5.7 percent year over year and the most since casinos reopened in June 2020, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Meanwhile, regional casino visitation was up 11.8 percent on average in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri from June. Illinois reported nearly 841,000 admissions in July—the highest level in the pandemic era.

Land-based gaming revenue was also helped by the launch of commercial gaming in Virginia. The Old Dominion state became America’s 26^th casino market with the opening of the Hard Rock Bristol casino on July 8, generating $15.1 million in the first month of partial operations.

At the end of July, year-to-date revenue from land-based casino slot machines and table games stands at $27.97 billion, 9.5 percent ahead of the same period in 2021. 21 of 25 states saw annual revenue growth from traditional gaming through the first seven months of 2022.

In July, commercial gaming revenue from sports betting and iGaming continued to grow on an annual basis.

Land-based and online sportsbooks generated July revenue of $359.6 million from commercial operations in 25 jurisdictions. This is a 34.5 percent gain from 2021 when commercial sports betting markets were live across 20 jurisdictions. Through the first seven months of 2022, commercial sports betting revenue stands at $3.45 billion, 62.7 percent ahead of the same period last year. Year-to-date handle is $50.70 billion, tracking 88.3 percent ahead of 2021.

Meanwhile, combined July revenue from iGaming in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia reached $392.4 million in July, increasing 28.3 percent from the previous year when iGaming was operational in five states (not including online poker in Nevada). Year-to-date iGaming revenue stands at $2.81 billion, up 41.1 percent on the same period in 2021.

Taken together, revenue from iGaming and sports betting accounted for 14.9 percent of combined commercial gaming revenue in July, down from 15.4 percent in June and 19.7 percent in May.