The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released its latest State of the States report with very positive numbers for 2024. There has been record-breaking revenue of USD 72.04 billion for 2024 (7.5% higher than 2023), marking the fourth consecutive year of unprecedented progress. This surge is attributed to a combination of factors, including the expansion of legal gaming options, technological advancements, and a growing acceptance of gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment.
In 2024, 28 of the 38 jurisdictions with commercial casinos, iGaming or sports betting operations not only saw a rise in annual gaming revenue but also set all time annual revenue records. Notably, North Carolina and Vermont reported commercial gaming revenue for the first time after their regulated markets for mobile sports betting were launched during the course of the year.
The increase in gaming revenue resulted in a record USD 15.91 billion of direct gaming tax revenue paid to state and local governments by commercial gaming establishments, an 8.5% increase compared to 2023. This figure just includes specific state and local taxes directly linked to gaming activities and does not comprise the billions of dollars more paid by the industry in the form of income taxes, sales taxes or various corporate taxes, nor does it incorporate the payroll taxes paid by gaming operators and suppliers. Federal excise tax payments made by sports betting operators are also excluded from the total.
Across the 492 commercial casinos around the country, revenue from traditional casino games grew by 1% in 2024 to a record USD 49.89 billion. Legal sports betting launched in North Carolina and Vermont in 2024 helped drive commercial sports betting revenue up 24.8% to USD 13.78 billion as Americans legally bet a total of USD 149.90 billion on sports throughout the year.
The iGaming market also continued its strong growth in 2024, with combined iGaming revenue from seven active states (excluding Nevada’s online poker only market) reaching USD 8.42 billion, a 28.7% increase year-over-year. That total includes USD 26.3 million in revenue from Rhode Island, which launched iGaming in March 2025 and was the first new market to open since Connecticut in late 2021. Among the states with big gaming revenue gains were Kentucky (+148%), Wyoming (+31.8%), Connecticut (+31.3%), Virginia (+27.1%), Arizona (+27%), Tennessee (+24.8%), Oregon (+24.5%), Michigan (+17.1%), Illinois (+15.8%), and Main (+14.9%).
While the current moment of the U.S. economy shows some uncertainty, there are positive expectations for the future. Nearly half of casino executives anticipate revenue growth to speed up over the next 6 to 12 months and many plan to ramp up capital investments, according to the AGA’s Gaming CEO Outlook.
In fact, gaming executives’ longer-term outlook improved: 14% responded with a positive future business outlook, 82% with a neutral outlook, and 4% with a negative outlook. This reflects expectations that revenue will grow more in the next 6 to 12 months than it did in the previous 6 to 12 months (46% positive, 28% neutral, 25% negative), the Outlook said. Moreover, executive sentiment around future customer activity improved to its highest level since the first quarter of 2022, with 29% expecting an increase.