Feature: AGA
American Gaming Association President, Bill Miller
A year to forget
“B
The American Gaming Association looks back on 2020. By David McKee
leak.” That was American Gaming Association President Bill Miller’s oneword summation of the gaming industry’s 2020, the year that Coronavirus brought gambling to a grinding halt nationwide. First the bad news: Industry winnings fell to a level not seen since 2003. As for the good news, customers found different—and legal—ways to gamble, as online sports betting and Internet gambling boomed. Sports-betting handle was $21.5 billion, of which operators kept $1.5 billion, a climb of 69 percent from 2019. Meanwhile, I-gaming grew 1,990 percent, as it spread to new jurisdictions and as sheltering-at-home players turned to their computers and mobile devices in search of a fiddle. The timing of Covid-19 could scarcely have been worse, nipping in the bud what promised to be the best first quarter (perhaps the best year) in the U.S. casino industry’s history. Gaming revenue fell to a 34
hairsbreadth below $30 billion, scarcely chicken feed but a shadow of 2019’s numbers, down 31 percent. Tribal gaming revenues have yet to be aggregated but will probably be 25 percent off 2019’s $34.5 billion. Casinos lost 27 percent of their business days (45,600 for the whole industry), with not one of 25 casinoenabled states posting a year-over-year revenue increase. “While gaming revenue fell, it’s remarkable it only dropped as much as it did. That’s a testament to our ability to reopen quickly and safely,” said Miller. 2020 came as an unpleasant jolt to an industry that had enjoyed five consecutive years of revenue growth. Also, with casinos reliant less and less upon gaming revenue and more on attractions (conventions, dining and entertainment, not to mention hotel rooms, no longer a loss leader), there was a doublewhammy. This was especially true for Las Vegas, where gambling represents but 30 percent of the total revenue pie and where visitation plunged 74 percent. www.casinolifemagazine.com
