TRIBAL + COMMERCIAL GAMING = $100B!

Gaming Revenue Continues To Grow Post-Pandemic

Hi Gaming Guide. I like reading the reports you publish every quarter on the Tribal statistics here in AZ for the revenue from all the casinos. It’s interesting to know the numbers.

However, I don’t recall you ever publishing the numbers for casinos outside of AZ, like the casinos in Vegas and so on. It would be interesting to compare.

The numbers here in AZ seem astronomical, so I’ve always wondered if we’re around the industry average or if all of us in AZ just like to gamble a lot. (lol) Thanks for a great read every month.

You can find me at the tables and I’m known as Big Ed.

Big Ed via e-mail

Thank you for a great question Big Ed and for being an Arizona Gaming Guide fan. My team and I appreciate your support of our publication and your kind remarks.

Gaming revenue can be separated into two categories – Tribal gaming revenue and Commercial gaming revenue. Last year was a great year for all casinos as both the Tribal and Commercial gaming, as a group, touted record-breaking gaming revenues in 2022. And, this year looks like it is on track to break more records!

Tribal gaming revenues rose nearly 5% (or $1.9 billion) in fiscal year 2022 and reached $40.9 billion, which is the highest amount in its history according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. The 2021 fiscal year’s gross gaming revenue amounted to $39 billion which represents an increase of 40% when compared to the previous year’s gross gaming revenue of $27.8 billion. According to the annual report released by the AZ Department of Gaming, the tribes collectively brought in $2.7 billion in 2022 of which $123 million (or about 4.5% of the total revenue) went to the AZ Benefits fund.

The U.S. commercial gaming revenue reached an annual record of $60.4 billion in 2022, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA). This marks the first $60 billion year for the commercial gaming industry, surpassing the previous record of $53 billion set in 2021. In fact, U.S. commercial gaming continued its long run of consecutive quarterly revenue growth in the second quarter, hitting a Q2 record of $16.07 billion, according to the AGA. The total outpaced Q2 2022 by 8.1% and marked the 10th consecutive quarter of annual growth for the commercial gaming industry. And, it’s no surprise that Q2 2023 is the second-highest grossing quarter in industry history, topped only by Q1 2023, making the first half of 2023 the commercial gaming industry’s strongest half ever. The $32.71 billion in commercial gaming revenue generated in the first six months of 2023 tracks 11.9% ahead of the same period last year!

Gaming is big money in AZ and all around the country – and the world! Over $101 billion of gaming revenue was generated from the Tribal and Commercial gaming sectors in 2022 just in North America alone.

However, before you go “OMG!!!” people are spending a lot on gaming entertainment, let’s just take a look at how much some sports leagues generated last year. In 2022, the 32 teams of the National Football League generated a total revenue of approximately $18.6 billion, which was an increase of over $1 billion (or 7%) from the previous year! Major League Baseball also established a new record for revenues during the 2022 season of nearly $11 billion in revenue. In the 2021/22 season, all 30 National Basketball Association teams combined generated revenues of just over $10 billion. This marks a significant increase on the figure from the 2020/21 season, which stood at $6.41 billion.

The U.S. golf course industry generated $26.1 billion in 2022. Major League Soccer also hit its peak revenue in 2022 at $210 Million in the U.S. which, of course, is just a splash in the pond compared to the almost $30 billion Euros (or over $32 billion U.S. dollars), the value of the European soccer market!

Moving forward, keep an eye out in our Gaming News section and we’ll make sure to provide you with the most recent quarterly and annual statistical reports for not only AZ Tribal Gaming but both Tribal and Commercial Gaming nationwide. Have a lucky month! $