Pulse
LEGISLATION AMERICAN GAMING ASSOCIATION
2021 was the highest-grossing year ever for the US commercial casino industry, reaching $53bn in revenue according to the AGA's Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The total breaks 2019’s previous record of $43.65bn by more than 21 per cent.
highlighting the dangers of unregulated, illegal gambling machines proliferating across the U.S. Tese illegal gambling machines are not subjected to meaningful testing, licensing or regulatory standards and are often tied to criminal activity, including money laundering, drug trafficking and violent crime.
Te AGA's white paper, Skilled at Deception: How Unregulated Gaming Machines Endanger Consumers and Dilute Investments in Local Economies, recommends that law enforcement and policymakers prioritise robust enforcement of laws to root out illegal and unregulated gaming machines.
Miller says that states and communities must not authorise these machines and businesses should actively remove illegal and unregulated games on their properties.
“It's a really important issue. Tese 'grey market machines' look like a slot machine, play like one and take your money. Somewhere along the line counties and townships have allowed these to proliferate in taverns, gas stations and legion halls. Tese are not licensed and have no consumer protections nor investments in responsible gambling. Often, they are linked to organised crime.
“What we are trying to do is focus on educating policy makers about the loopholes that exist and, quite frankly, drive better coordination across law enforcement to root these machines out and ensure at local, state and federal level we are able to make a comprehensive effort to get rid of them.
“Te operators that offer legal machines are licensed, background investigated and tested. None of these grey market machines undergo these procedures and they subsequently cannibalise the legal machine market and the major investments our members have made in ensuring fair play.
“Law enforcement have looked at one another and asked whose job it is to remove them. Te sheriff looks at the county police, the county police look at the state police, and the state police look at the federal government, and no- one has taken the reins to address the issue.
“All the while, people are being victimised and the state is not gaining meaningful tax revenue. Companies like our members that operate with all the costs and regulated frameworks are being hurt financially as a result.”
P114 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS ADVERTISING
Te American Gaming Association is recommending a new approach to national advertising campaigns to allow the use of national gambling helplines.
Currently, each state has its own specific requirements for including problem gambling disclaimers in published and broadcasted advertisements. Tis is an essential service for localised advertising but creates confusion and inconsistency in national advertising.
Te AGA's new policy statement encourages streamlined requirements for national advertising campaigns which would allow operators to improve disclaimer readability and better highlight problem gambling resources.
“Tere are currently a lot of different helplines and numbers,” explains Miller. “As the gaming industry grows, adverts are becoming national but states still require state-specific helplines in the advertising. What you end up with is an advert with 12 different helpline numbers.
“Tis is certainly not helpful to the consumer and creates confusion. We have released recommendations to streamline helpline requirements and hopefully we will get to a single national helpline. Tere are several different groups who have a vested interest in staying relevant and we respect that. However, we also think change would be greatly beneficial to the most important person in this dynamic - the consumer.”
106 million American adults (41 per cent) recall advertising related to responsible gaming in the past year—an increase of 32 million people (12 per cent) from 2020. Whilst this is a positive step from a responsible gambling perspective, there have been complaints about the sheer number of sports betting ads.
“In terms of responsible gaming, we want to make sure advertising is done in a way that moves the sports bettors away from the illegal market. I acknowledge the complaints but remember what we are trying to do which is
“Tere will be spikes from time to time such as the beginning of March Madness, but I'm convinced the market is and will continue to rationalise itself.”
A RECORD-BREAKING 2021
2021 was the highest-grossing year ever for the US commercial casino industry, reaching $53bn in revenue according to the AGA's Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. Te total breaks 2019’s previous record of $43.65bn by more than 21 per cent.
Traditional brick-and-mortar gaming led the industry’s recovery, with 2021 combined slot and table gaming revenue totalling $44.94bn, a 6.6 per cent increase over 2019’s previous record.
"Te gaming industry is bigger than the American airline industry. We have close to 1,000 casinos across the country, and in all of the communities in which we operate, we are oen of the top taxpayers,” explains Miller.
“We are a job creator and a good community partner. Sports betting is now an additional element to the American gaming industry and as it continues to roll out, we don't face the same opposition we might have faced 20 years ago."
As an ‘additional element’, sports betting didn’t perform too shabbily last year either. Te vertical’s growth accelerated, generating $57.22bn in handle and $4.29bn in revenue - jumps of 165 per cent and 177 per cent over 2020, respectively.
Tis was powered by strong demand in established markets such as Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and further boosted by the launch of seven new commercial sports betting markets in Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming.
Two new iGaming markets, Connecticut and Michigan, also opened, leading to a record
“Law enforcement have looked at one another and asked whose job it is to remove them. The sheriff looks at the county police, the county police look at the state police, and the state police look at the federal government, and no-one has taken the reins to address the issue."
move the market away from offshore, illegal websites. Tat takes awareness.
“Te market will rationalise itself in time and has already shown signs of doing so. Te beginning of the NFL season saw a mass advertising spend and since the fourth week there has been a marked decline.
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