Commercial gaming revenue continued to rebound nationally in August

Revenue still down sharply from a year ago amid pandemic

Commercial gaming revenue (CGR) continued to bounce back nationally in August as more casinos reopened from coronavirus closures, but still remained well below year-ago levels, according to a recent report.

August marked the fourth straight month of recovery for the commercial gaming industry following April’s historic low-point, the American Gaming Association (AGA) said. Gaming revenue rose 5.6 percent from July to $3 billion in August, “showing evidence of gaming’s continued return.”

However, the AGA says, “The path to a full recovery is still long, with August 2020 down 19.7 percent compared to 2019, as slot and table game GGR remain in the red.”

Year to date, commercial gaming revenue totaled $17.54 billion, down more than 39 percent from year-ago levels.

Like all tourism and hospitality-related industries, casinos have been hurt by pandemic-related shutdowns and then by restrictions after opening. Those include limits on how many people can enter the casino, the continued closure of certain casino games like table games, as well as the shuttering of some non-gaming venues at casinos.

A state-by-state look at gaming revenue finds some states doing well, with Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi generating year-over-year revenue gains in August. Other states, like Florida, Michigan, Rhode Island, and New York had massive declines in gaming revenue in the month compared to a year ago. 

New York posted no CGR in August, as its four state-licensed casinos didn’t reopen until September. Native American-operated casinos in the state opened earlier, but those facilities’ numbers aren’t included in the data.      

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