The increase in favorability coincides with a surge in casino visitation and a widespread perception that the industry provides innovative, high-quality entertainment while supporting economic growth. The share of American adults that visited a casino in the last year jumped to 44 percent in 2019, up nine percentage points from 2018. This trend looks to continue as almost half of all Americans (49%) say they will visit a casino to gamble over the next 12 months, up from 41 percent in 2018.

“The favorability of our industry has never been higher,” said Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “As gaming expands across the U.S. and more Americans engage with our industry’s offerings, they see firsthand gaming’s positive impact on local economies and its value as a community partner. I’m committed to continuing the association’s work to translate gaming’s vast popularity into political capital, one of my top priorities for AGA.”

Additional highlights from the survey include:

• Nearly half of Americans (49%) say that casinos help the communities where they are located, while clear majorities say that casinos specifically help local economies (57%) and create jobs (71%).


• Two-in-three Americans (67%) think the gaming industry provides high-quality entertainment and 63 percent believe casino entertainment options are innovative.

These results come at a time of unprecedented growth for the gaming industry. With the spread of legal, regulated sports betting, 43 states plus the District of Columbia will soon have some form of casino gaming or sports betting. Gaming revenue for the U.S. casino industry reached an all-time high of $75.4 billion last year according to AGA’s annual State of the States report and National Indian Gaming Commission data. Today’s findings are consistent with previous AGA research showing nearly nine out of 10 Americans view gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment.

Methodology
The Mellman Group conducted this survey of Americans’ attitudes on behalf of the American Gaming Association between Sept. 13-19, 2019 among a national sample of 1,000 registered voters. The interviews were conducted both online and via phone. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.