The online gaming business is booming coming out of 2024’s third quarter.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported on Thursday that combined revenue from online sports betting and iGaming increased 37.9% year-over-year in Q3.
Online gaming’s $5.14 billion accounted for 29% ("a significantly higher share than in Q3 2023”) of the $17.7 billion in total commercial gaming revenue, up 8.1% year-over-year.
Online gaming operators also saw their profits increase by 33.9% compared to Q2 2024.
Expansion into Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, and Vermont spurred the growth. Mobile sports betting generated $30.3 billion and produced $3.24 billion in Q3 revenue. That 42.4% year-over-year profit increase marked the largest among all sectors in the quarter.
Excluding new markets, sports betting still grew 28% year-over-year.
iGaming accounted for a reported $2.08 billion, a 30.3% year-over-year increase, of Q3’s total gaming revenue.
“Q3 2024 continued gaming’s momentum from the first half of the year, with online casino and sports betting driving strong growth,” AGA vice president of research David Forman said. “More than a quarter of commercial revenue now regularly comes from online sources, raising the importance of continued sustainable growth with consumers in those states.”
States benefit
According to the data compiled by the AGA, 29 of the 35 gaming jurisdictions available for the third quarter increased revenue year over year.
Nevada led all states with $3.8 billion in profits while Pennsylvania and New Jersey both surpassed $1.7 billion during the quarter. New York, which doesn’t have iGaming like the two neighboring states ahead of it, hauled in nearly $1.3 billion, a 10.8% year-over-year increase.
The AGA reported that the largest increase from Q3 2023 to 2024 was 426% by Washington, D.C.
Nebraska, Oregon, and Wyoming, states with retail-only sports betting, recorded at least 60% year-over-year increases. Revenue in Connecticut, which offers online sports betting and iGaming, jumped 38%.
Q3 revenue was down year-over-year in New Mexico (-5.7%), Florida (-3.1%), Missouri (-3.1%), Mississippi (-3.4%), Nevada (-2.6%), and Iowa (-1.7).
Tax revenue from gaming increased 8.9% year-over-year as operators paid out an estimated $3.79 billion in Q3.
Traditional gaming down slightly
This quarter marked the highest-growing Q3 since the AGA began tracking these figures. It was also the 15th consecutive quarter to see a year-over-year revenue increase.
While online gaming thrived, revenue from land-based slots, table games, and retail sports betting of $12.56 billion was down 0.6% in Q3. While slot revenue of $9.1 billion increased 1.3% year-over-year, profits from table games fell 8.3% to $2.42 billion.
Fourteen of 27 markets increased land-based gaming revenue by an average of 8.5% in Q3.
“New brick-and-mortar casino openings bolstered traditional gaming, which still accounts for the bulk of industry revenue,” Forman said.
