- Casino revenue in the United States reached an all time high in Q1 2021.
- Revenue increased more than 20% over Q4 2020.
- Sports betting revenue increased 270% over Q1 2020.
LAS VEGAS - The casino industry appears to be recovering nicely from the COVID-19 pandemic, as Q1 of 2021 brought record profits.
According to the American Gaming Association’s revenue tracker, commercial gaming revenue in the United States reached more than $11 billion in Q1 2021.
That amount of revenue means that Q1 of 2021 was the industry’s highest grossing quarter of all time.
The rebound is especially clear in the context of the numbers from Q4 of 2020.
Gross revenue from Q1 of 2021 increased by more than 20% compared to the revenue from Q4 of 2020 - a huge recovery.
Bill Miller, President and CEO of the American Gaming Association, issued a statement praising the industry for its response to COVID-19.
“Today’s report shows gaming’s comeback is ahead of schedule,” said Miller.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our industry has faced numerous challenges head-on while still reopening responsibly and providing a safe, exciting environment for customers.”
There are some interesting wrinkles in the information provided in the AGA statement as well.
For example, even though many casinos are still shut down, or operating under restrictions on capacity, they still reached 90% of their Q1 2019 revenue.
In other words, despite the pandemic, and despite the restrictions on land based casinos that it caused, land based casinos are performing nearly as well as they did in 2019.
One big growth area for the gambling industry? Sports betting.
Sports betting revenue for Q1 2021 was 270% higher than sports betting revenue for Q1 2020, which makes sense in the context that the pandemic hit in Q1 2020.
Still, a 270% increase is remarkable, as most of Q1 2020 still had sports in it.
That said, Q1 2021 had one advantage that Q1 2020 did not - March Madness, which was cancelled in 2020, happened as scheduled, and was an enormously large gambling event.
With large growth from online sports betting platforms and iGaming, and the brick and mortar casinos holding steady amidst restrictions, Q1 2021 seems to have been an unmitigated success for the gambling industry.