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In July, the American online casino industry posted its fastest annual growth rate in gross gaming revenue (GGR) since 2022. Combined revenue across all legal online casino states amounted to nearly $672 million for the month.
That total represents an increase of 2.9% in daily average revenue from June and is significantly lower than the all-time high of $716 million set in March.
Superficially, those numbers don’t look all that impressive. However, June and July are typically the slowest months for online gambling. There is less crossover from sports betting during the summer, and many users are out enjoying the nice weather instead of playing casino games. In 2022 and 2023, the monthly growth rate for daily average revenue was negative in July.
Because of that seasonality, annual growth is a more meaningful total than monthly totals or the month-over-month growth rate. In July 2023, US online casinos earned just $507 million. Revenue this year grew 32.6%. That growth rate hasn’t exceeded 30% since November 2022.
Most Online Casino States Exceeding 2024 Revenue Projections
The iGaming industry got off to a hot start in Q1 but as of last month, was starting to show signs of returning to its earlier growth rate. Instead, it has started to heat up again in Q3.
What’s most impressive about this is that it is happening without the opening of any significant new markets. Rhode Island launched in March, but with under $3 million per month in revenue, its contribution is less than half a percent of the total.
Better-than-expected performance for New Jersey and Michigan has been the main driver, but almost all states have been doing well. West Virginia is way ahead of the projection but is a small market. Connecticut and Pennsylvania mostly performed according to expectations in the first half of the year, but even Pennsylvania beat its forecast by more than 10% in July.
| Growth Rate | PlayUSA Projection | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan-22 | 45.0% | |
| Feb-22 | 51.7% | |
| Mar-22 | 37.5% | |
| Apr-22 | 40.5% | |
| May-22 | 33.6% | |
| Jun-22 | 35.7% | |
| Jul-22 | 29.8% | |
| Aug-22 | 33.5% | |
| Sep-22 | 28.3% | |
| Oct-22 | 32.3% | |
| Nov-22 | 32.9% | |
| Dec-22 | 24.6% | |
| Jan-23 | 21.4% | 27.5% |
| Feb-23 | 21.9% | 23.1% |
| Mar-23 | 27.1% | 27.4% |
| Apr-23 | 20.9% | 24.0% |
| May-23 | 22.6% | 25.7% |
| Jun-23 | 24.1% | 22.5% |
| Jul-23 | 21.4% | 23.4% |
| Aug-23 | 22.5% | 20.3% |
| Sep-23 | 29.3% | 20.7% |
| Oct-23 | 18.5% | 17.4% |
| Nov-23 | 21.9% | 13.0% |
| Dec-23 | 22.1% | 14.9% |
| Jan-24 | 20.7% | 21.3% |
| Feb-24 | 26.4% | 18.7% |
| Mar-24 | 25.8% | 19.0% |
| Apr-24 | 23.5% | 21.6% |
| May-24 | 28.3% | 21.8% |
| Jun-24 | 24.0% | 19.2% |
| Jul-24 | 32.6% | 21.6% |
What’s Behind the Hot Performance of US Online Casinos?
Part of the reason might be that FanDuel Casino appears to have had its foot on the gas pedal this year. It has pulled away from BetMGM and DraftKings to claim the iGaming market lead and currently has annual growth rates of 62.4% in Pennsylvania and 54.1% in Michigan, the two states where we have access to that data.
However, FanDuel’s share of the New Jersey market is smaller and it has actually lost market share there since January. Given that New Jersey has been accelerating, there are probably some macroeconomic forces at play as well.
Inflation has been coming back down this year, and the stock markets are on the rise. Disposable personal income per capita has also been rising steadily since early 2023 after a period of post-COVID turbulence. Less positively, US unemployment has spiked over the summer, and unfortunately, such outside stressors can also lead people to gamble more.
Online Gambling Revenue Highlights — July 2024
Pennsylvania
- PA online casinos and poker rooms won $215.4 million in July 2024, up 37.1% year-on-year. Although the growth rate was as high as 32.6% in February, the last time it exceeded 37% was way back in January 2022.
- The daily average revenue was $6.9 million, up 6.6% following a similar drop in June.
- Pennsylvania had been conforming closely to Play USA’s revenue projections since March. However, the unexpected surge in July caused it to beat that month’s forecast by 10.7% and has pulled the state 1.6% ahead of its year-to-date target.
- Bet365 Casino made its Pennsylvania debut with a humble 0.5% market share and just over $1 million in revenue for July. However, it launched late in the month, so the numbers should be much higher in August. It may well find itself with about 2% of the market, in the same ballpark as PlayLive!, Bally Casino, PokerStars and betPARX.
- FanDuel Casino has bounced back from a slump in June, up 18.5% month-over-month and increasing its market share to 26.3%.
Michigan
- Michigan also began an early recovery from its seasonal slump, bouncing back to $191.4 million in revenue for July. The annual growth rate rose to 24.6% from 21.3% in June, but unlike some of the other states, this is not significantly higher than it was earlier in the year.
- Daily average revenue for Michigan online casinos rose slightly to $6.2 million, a month-on-month increase of 1.1%.
- Michigan has been consistently outperforming the Play USA forecast since February. In July, it beat the projection by 8.1%, putting it ahead by 6.0% year-to-date. Its 2024 total will likely come in somewhere between $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion.
- DraftKings Casino saw a month-over-month increase of 10.4%, while its subsidiary brand Golden Nugget dropped 23.2%. This back-and-forth between DraftKings’ two brands has been going on since late 2023; one possible explanation is that the company is shifting its marketing efforts between the two.
- Other brands in the win column include Soaring Eagle, Hollywood, FireKeepers, and SI Casino. On the other end of things, Play Gun Lake, Four Winds and WynnBet (now operated by Caesars) took a downturn in July.
New Jersey
- New Jersey online casino and poker sites earned $195.4 million in gross revenue in July. The annual growth rate climbed to 25.9%, higher than any month in 2023 and second only to February this year.
- NJ’s daily average revenue increased to $6.3 million per day in June, marking three consecutive months of small increases during what would ordinarily be a seasonal downswing.
- New Jersey beat the forecast by 7.9% in July, similar to the margin for May and June. Year-to-date, its revenue totals $1.32 billion, well ahead of the projected $1.24 billion.
- BetMGM Casino and its subsidiary brands had a great month in NJ. The flagship brand increased its daily average revenue 17.0% month-over-month, Borgata was up 8.7%, and Wheel of Fortune 24.6%.
Connecticut
- Connecticut’s two online casinos won just under $42.0 million in July, up 48.8% year-on-year. Although only slightly higher than the projected 47.5%, it’s a substantial bounce-back from the record low 25.5% in July.
- Daily average revenue climbed back to $1.4 million, up 2.5% month-over-month.
- Connecticut beat the Play USA forecast by 1.1% in July, but it remains the only state other than Rhode Island to be trailing the year-to-date projection. It’s only 1.5% behind schedule and may still reach $550 million by year’s end.
- Though there wasn’t much change in either company’s promotional spending, DraftKings bounced back to 54.0% of the market, close to where it was in April and May, after having dropped to 51.8% in June.
West Virginia
- The West Virginia online casino market produced just over $20.0 million in gross revenue in July, the second time the state has passed that mark. That represents 75.1% year-over-year growth, the highest rate since September 2022.
- West Virginia’s daily average revenue rose 1.5% to $645,225, compared to July 2023, when it dropped 8.1%.
- The Mountain State’s trend in 2024 has been quite the opposite of 2023. While its growth rate came down quite sharply from the highs of 2022, it has been climbing steadily this year. As a result, it beat the Play USA forecast by 26.1% in July and its year-to-date total is 13.7% ahead of the projection.
- The Greenbrier license (FanDuel, BetMGM & Golden Nugget) and Charles Town (DraftKings, Fanatics) have been trading the market lead back and forth and are now deadlocked at 38.5% of the market apiece. Less than $3,000 in gross revenue separated the two in July.
Delaware
- Delaware’s BetRivers-operated online casinos brought in nearly $5.2 million in July, a state record.
- Daily average revenue was $167,539, virtually unchanged from June. The share of revenue from slots was also identical at 69%.
- The annual growth rate was 339.5%, also essentially the same as 338.8% in June.
Rhode Island
- Rhode Island’s Bally Casino monopoly pulled in $2.6 million in July.
- Daily average revenue was up 7.7% from June.
- Although it’s a positive sign that revenue is still ramping up during a typically slow part of the year, it is still roughly half of what was expected for the market.
US Online Gambling Revenue Summary Table
| State | GGR - July 2024 | Monthly Change | Annual Change | Month vs. Forecast | Full Year Total | Year vs. Forecast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $215,376,211 | +6.6% | +37.1% | +10.7% | $1,477,362,999 | +1.6% |
| New Jersey | $195,395,847 | +1.2% | +25.9% | +7.9% | $1,321,697,223 | +6.3% |
| Michigan | $191,439,950 | +1.1% | +24.6% | +8.1% | $1,351,244,037 | +6.0% |
| Connecticut | $41,956,712 | +2.5% | +48.8% | +1.1% | $298,898,273 | -1.5% |
| West Virginia | $20,001,966 | +1.5% | +75.1% | +26.1% | $129,302,271 | +13.7% |
| Delaware | $5,193,734 | +0.0% | +339.5% | +246.2% | $30,466,076 | +190.2% |
| Rhode Island | $2,598,646 | +7.7% | N/A | -42.9% | $10,481,420 | -49.4% |
| US Total | $671,963,066 | +2.9% | +32.6% | +9.0% | $4,619,253,653 | +4.5% |
Notes on the Data
Raw data for this article comes from reports issued by the state regulators: the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Michigan Gaming Control Board, West Virginia Lottery, Delaware Lottery and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
The 2024 online gambling revenue projections are original calculations performed by Alex Weldon as a collaboration between Bonus.com and Play USA. Please cite Play USA and Alex Weldon if reporting projected numbers or market performance compared to the projections.
Monthly growth figures are adjusted for the number of days in the month. That is, they represent the change in daily average revenue, not full-month gross revenue.
West Virginia reports revenue weekly, not monthly. Its monthly totals are an estimate, assuming that revenue for partial weeks is distributed evenly between the seven days.
Pennsylvania only reports adjusted revenue (gross revenue, less promotional spending). Gross slots revenue is calculated by subtracting payouts from wagers, but no such data is available for table games and poker. Therefore, actual gross revenue is probably somewhat higher than what we report.
