Revenue for iGaming a Critical Part of Record Q3 Revenues Nationwide

The American Gaming Association released a report this week highlighting the fact commercial gaming in the United States reached an all-time three-month high in the third quarter of 2022.

But a key aspect of those figures, from July 1 to Sept. 30, not to be overlooked is that the best online casino sites as well as mobile sports betting have become the fastest growing segments of regulated commercial gaming in America.

Collectively, online sports wagering and iGaming make up more than 19% of total gross gaming revenues for commercial gaming in the U.S. market.

In its Q3 revenue report, the AGA points out that the third quarter for 2022 saw $15.17 billion in gross gaming revenues (GGR). That was 2% better than the previous record of $14.81 billion from the second quarter of this year.

For skyrocketing increases, though, both sports wagering and iGaming had even more spectacular gains. Sports gambling’s GGR in the third quarter 2022 was $1.68 billion, an 80.6% jump from the third quarter of 2021. And online casinos posted $1.21 billion in GGR for the third quarter 2022, an increase of 28.5% over the same quarter in 2021.

Again, those figures — $1.68 billion for sports wagering plus $1.21 billion for iGaming’s mobile gambling apps — made up more than 19% of the total record-setting quarter for commercial gambling.

The gains were similarly impressive for sports wagering and iGaming for the first three quarters of 2022 combined. Compared to the same period in 2021, sports wagering GGR in the past nine months increased 71.4% to $4.78 billion, and iGaming increased in the first nine months over the same period in 2021 by 38.1% to $3.62 billion.

An important note is that in the first nine months of 2022, sports betting has hit $4.78 billion in revenue, already surpassing 2021’s full-year total of $4.34 billion, with the bulk of the football season ahead.

Overall, in same-quarter year-over-year comparisons, total GGR of $15.17 billion was an 8.8% increase over the third quarter of 2021. The third quarter slot machine GGR, including real money slot apps options, was $8.84 billion, an increase of 1.7% over the third quarter of 2021, and third quarter table games GGR of $2.55 billion was a 2.4% increase over third quarter 2021.

In the first nine months, just as in the third quarter, sports gambling and iGaming combined for nearly 19% of the total GGR.

Looking at nine-month totals overall, the year-to-date combined GGR was $44.38 billion, an increase of 14.7% over January-September 2021, with slots accounting for $25.73 billion and table games making up $7.46 billion.

It is noteworthy that while iGaming has an outsized impact on revenues, it is legal in just six states so far — with Connecticut online gambling the latest to join a list that also includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia and Delaware. Nevada allows only online poker.

In contrast, sports gambling is legal in more than 30 jurisdictions (the AGA notes its figures reflect 27 sports betting markets). Many sports wagering markets have both retail sportsbooks and online operators.

The enormous revenue potential for iGaming — which offers popular ways to wager such as online roulette, various card games and more — has engendered much conversation within the gaming world. But to increase that segment of revenues, the industry needs action from state lawmakers and possibly the approval of voters where referendums are required.

The AGA noted that in some categories a small number of state figures were unavailable. In Arizona and Illinois sports betting revenues for September had not been reported at the time the AGA report was written.

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