Gambling boom in 2021 sets new record after pandemic slump

Gambling boom in 2021 sets new record after pandemic slump

The commercial gambling industry made over $44 billion in 2021, surpassing the record set in 2019.

The gambling business boomed like never before in 2021 as droves of pandemic-weary tourists returned to the Las Vegas Strip and casinos across America, flush with pent-up savings.

Nevada’s casinos are poised for their best year ever, state gaming officials said, with $12.3 billion in total winnings in the first 11 months of the year. Less gambling-centric states like Colorado and Michigan also saw huge increases at brick-and-mortar locations, according to the American Gaming Association. And a massive surge in online betting drove so-called “iGaming” revenue up more than 300 percent in the one-year period ending in October.

All told, gambling 안전사이트 revenue for 2021 has already surpassed $44 billion ― an all-time high ― with many states yet to report November and December figures, an AGA spokesperson said in an email.

Though sports and online betting are seeing the most explosive growth, they account for just 15 percent of gross gaming revenue nationally, according to the AGA. Instead, in-person slots and table games are leading the industry’s recovery from a 30-percent slump in 2020 driven by the coronavirus pandemic, the AGA said.

On Friday on the Las Vegas Strip, local officials were preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of revelers for the return of New Year’s Eve fireworks that had been canceled last year amid mandatory shutdowns.

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