The optimistic outlook of the American gaming industry in 2023

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The U.S. represents the top leading country in the world which wins the highest gambling gross revenue every year. It also possesses the world’s largest casinos, especially in Las Vegas, which is well-known as the gambling hub worldwide. It was reported that the gross revenue of the gambling industry in the U.S. reached almost 53 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, growing significantly over the 2020 figure when offline activity was greatly restricted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Continuing the growth momentum, 2022 witnessed the gross gaming revenue of the gambling industry in the United States had reached a total of 60.42 billion U.S. dollars, which is 13.9 percent increase over 2021 (an increase of more than seven billion U.S. dollars over 2021) and 38.5 percent higher than 2019. The total revenue consists of traditional casino games, sports betting and iGaming. Traditional casinos provide gambling options like slot games and table games.

Slots brought in the highest portion of revenue when looking at the segments of gross gambling revenue in 2020 and 2021. Slot machines are mostly found in brick-and-mortar establishments like casinos. Casinos are well-known locations for gambling, but they are not legal in every state of the USA. It is because that gambling is legal under United States federal law, but each state can regulate or prohibit gambling based on its own situation and preference. The number of commercial casinos in the U.S. reached 466 in 2021, meanwhile, the number of tribal casinos (casinos owned by federally recognized Native American tribal governments, regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission and the government of the appropriate tribal community instead of local government) reached 515.

Sports betting is another American people’s favorite gambling activity in the country. Till now, 33 states and Washington D.C. can offer some form of sports betting. It is reported that almost all the states are standing on legalizing sports gambling, and site mobile bets recently.

Coming off a record-setting 2022, the American commercial gaming industry saw continued strength to start the year 2023, with January and February setting monthly revenue records. The nationwide gaming industry wins from traditional casino games, sports betting and iGaming reached $5.50 billion in January 2023.

Following January, February 2023 saw the nationwide gaming industry wins from traditional casino games, sports betting and iGaming reach $5.12 billion. It represents the highest February revenue number in history and a 14.5 percent year-over-year increase. It also marks 24 consecutive months of growth and the sixth month in a row with gaming revenue of more than $5 billion. Looking at segments, land-based casino revenue from slot machines and table games totaled $3.97 billion, sports betting produced $678.7 million, and iGaming produced monthly revenue of $465.0 million.

China has been playing the vital role of supplying consumers, labor force and goods for North America and Europe, which was greatly impeded by the pandemic. According to the “China Economic Watch” report released by KPMG China during the first quarter of 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”), China’s economy grew by 3.0% in 2022, and in the fourth quarter, China’s economy’s year-on-year growth rate was 2.9%, which was higher than market expectations. From the quarter-on-quarter perspective, the economic aggregate in the fourth quarter was the same as that in the third quarter. Looking back at 2021, the repeated outbreaks of the epidemic, the depressed real estate market, and the accelerated American Federal’s interest rate hikes triggered fluctuations in the global economy and financial markets, which were even intensified by geopolitical uncertainties. The combination of several major challenges made the country’s economic growth fall short of the expected target proposed during its two sessions. The good news is that the country’s economic aggregate has reached a new level despite the dropped economic growth rate. During 2022, China’s GDP reached 121 trillion CNY, and the advantages of the ultra-large-scale market have been further strengthened.

In 2023, China is expected to quickly emerge from the pandemic, macroeconomic policies will focus more on stable growth, consumption recovery is expected to accelerate, technological innovation and green transformation will promote manufacturing investment, and infrastructure investment is expected to remain stable. At the same time, the economic pressure from the real estate market will also be relieved. From the global market perspective, the fall of the inflation rate has slowed down the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, and the pressure on the RMB exchange rate and the capital market will be relieved, which will help stabilize the country’s financial market.

Recently, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and many other international investment institutions have raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth in 2023. Many foreign chambers of commerce in China, such as the American Chamber of Commerce in China, the British Chamber of Commerce, and the German Chamber of Commerce in China, believe that China’s adjustment of the epidemic prevention policy will help resume domestic and foreign personnel exchanges and business travel, restore optimism in the market, and China will continue to be a priority destination for foreign investment. According to expert analysis, in 2023, with the gradual recovery of demand and the superposition of policy effects, China’s economic and social vitality will be further released, and it will continue to become a “stabilizer” for the recovery of the world economy and an “engine” for growth.

China’s economy is poised to rebound this year as the movement of people and economic activity resume after lockdown measures are lifted, which will no doubt provide growth momentum to the global economy. According to the latest forecast, China’s economy will grow by 5.2% this year, compared with 3% growth last year. The Chinese economy is expected to account for a quarter of global economic growth this year.

The recovery of the economy and related activities in China in 2023 will definitely contribute to American gaming and related industry. And the Chinese factory’s on-time delivery will be fastened instead of all the instability and uncertainty during the pandemic lockdown restrictions.