US Sports Betting Saved By Busy August Schedule
This spring was a disaster for the North American gaming industry. The closure of casinos across the country was followed by a complete disappearance of sports, leaving the budding sports betting industry without the very object of their work for months. The disastrous revenues of the industry reflect the period of inactivity: they decreased by close to 80% compared to the previous year.
The Las Vegas Strip started to slowly reopen early in the summer, and sports have also returned to the field. The MLB decided to return to the pitch in July, and it was followed by other major leagues across the month. This, of course, had a serious – positive – impact on the handle of bookmakers across the US.
A record-breaking August
According to a recent report published by the American Gaming Association (AGA), the unusually busy gaming calendar was great news for bookmakers in North America, helping them generate historic revenues. For the first time since sports betting was legalized in the US, punters placed bets worth a total of $2.1 billion in a single month, generating revenues of close to $120 million for the industry. This significant rise in betting meant a staggering 175% growth year-on-year, led by New Jersey with a 127.5% growth of bets compared to August 2019. Even Colorado, the state that only introduced legal sports betting this May, reported a handle of close to $130 million.
Casinos recovering slowly
Casinos were closed amid the pandemic – and even after reopening, their public is much lower than in a normal year. In August, casinos across the US have generated 20% less revenue than in the previous year, all this after a very promising beginning of the year. Things are returning to normal slowly – a Fitch Ratings analyst recently estimated that it will take Sin City up to four years to return to normal. And it still remains to be seen what the winter ahead of us has in store for the industry.
After a 90% drop in revenues in the spring, casino revenues are slowly recovering but they are still a long way from normal. The pandemic has, in turn, boosted the revenues of the pandemic-proof part of the industry.
Online casinos soar
Online gambling seems like it was invented for these trying times. The JackpotCity online casino offers its users an almost complete casino experience (minus the crowd and the buffet, of course) while observing the strictest social distancing rules – it can be used from home with ease. Online casinos have proven to be a viable alternative to their brick-and-mortar counterparts this year, and good business for the operators behind them: they’ve seen their revenues soar to almost $1 billion (203.3%!!!) year on year, with a 224% growth to $145 million in revenues in August alone. This is a very impressive figure, considering that only a handful of states in the US have regulated online casino markets.
