The house certainly won in 2024.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported a record revenue year of $71.92 billion for the gaming industry in figures released February 19.
It was the fourth consecutive record year and marked a 7.5% increase from the previous all-time high of $66.5bn in 2023.
The gaming industry also finished its latest record year with a record quarter, bringing in revenue of $18.62 billion in Q4 2024.
Retail vs. online
Retail betting
Land-based gaming continued to dominate the market, bringing in $50.32 billion, or 70% of total gaming revenue in 2024.
Casinos saw a big uptick in attendance, with 49% of Americans visiting one in 2024, up 8% from a previous record high.
It wasn’t all good news for retail gambling, though. Revenue only grew 0.6% compared to 2024. Plus, iGaming accounted for the majority of commercial revenue in 13 states.
Online betting
Online gambling accounted for $21.54 billion in 2024, 30% of total gaming revenue. However, online saw a huge year-on-year increase (24.6%), especially when compared to retail (0.6%).
Online gaming revenue in the US has increased by around four times since 2017, and total revenue in the industry reached $86 billion in December 2024.
Experts expect this rapid growth will continue to pick up speed. It’s predicted that US online gambling revenue will reach $120 billion by 2029.
Sports betting
Sports betting continued to expand rapidly in 2024, bringing in a record $13.71 billion, which was a 25.4 % leap from the previous record-setting mark of $11.04 billion in 2023.
It must be noted that AGA’s sports betting data didn’t include revenue from Arizona for November and December.
Here are other notable milestones from the sports betting industry last year:
- $147.91 billion was wagered on sports in 2024, a 23.6% increase from 2023.
- Sports betting enjoyed a record quarter in Q4, generating $3.66 billion off the back of the stacked autumn sports calendar.
- New Jersey and Illinois both surpassed $1 billion in sports betting revenue for the first time.
- Over 95% of the money wagered on sports in 2024 was done online.
- By the end of 2024, sports betting was legal in 38 states and Washington DC.
- North Carolina was one of two new sports betting markets (also Vermont) and landed in 9th place in total state revenue ($583.6 million) despite launching in March.
- DraftKings remained the preferred sports destination for ages 35–44 (25%), 45–54 (33%), and 55+ (40%).
- bet365 is the choice among younger bettors, with the majority of ages 21–24 (28%) and 25–34 (30%) choosing the platform.
iGaming
While land-based gaming ($50.32 billion) and sports betting ($13.71 billion) took home the biggest chunks of the pie, iGaming saw the largest year-over-year increase in revenue at 28.7% ($8.41 billion).
Here are some of the other major accomplishments for the US iGaming industry last year:
- Q4 2024 set a new quarterly iGaming revenue record with $2.38 billion, up 33.1% from the same period in 2023
- Rhode Island became the seventh state to launch an iGaming market in Q1
- All six previously established iGaming markets achieved new annual revenue records
- Pennsylvania had the biggest iGaming market, bringing in $2.71 billion in revenue for a 28.5% year-on-year increase
- Michigan and New Jersey also surpassed the $ 2 billion revenue mark.
State breakdown
When looking at how each state performed in combined revenue from land-based casino games, sports betting, and iGaming, the top five remains unchanged from a year ago.
Of course, Nevada continued to be untouchable atop the leaderboard, though it saw only minor annual growth (0.5%) from 2023.
Here are the top five states in combined revenue:
| Position – State | 2024 revenue | Annual change |
|---|---|---|
| 1st – Nevada | $15.606 billion | 0.5% |
| 2nd – Pennsylvania | $6.871 billion | 10.3% |
| 3rd – New Jersey | $6.345 billion | 9.8% |
| 4th – New York | $5.193 billion | 10% |
| 5th – Michigan | $4.194 billion | 17.1% |
While some states had more modest total revenue figures compared to those in the table above, they did see huge annual leaps.
Here are the top five states in year-on-year revenue increase percentage:
| Position – State | Annual change | 2024 revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 1st – District of Columbia | 201.6% | $57.53 million |
| 2nd – Nebraska | 62.1% | $144.38 million |
| 3rd – Oregon | 34.4% | $86.43 million |
| 4th – Wyoming | 31.8% | $22.79 million |
| 5th – Connecticut | 31.3% | $761.3 million |
In 2024, 28 of the 36 commercial gaming jurisdictions increased their total gaming revenue. All 28 posted new annual revenue records, too.
Of the eight others, Montana — which is a sports betting-only market — was the only state with a double-digit annual decrease (15.6%, down to $7.13 million).
The others were New Mexico (-3.5%), Mississippi (-2%), Missouri (-1.7%), Iowa (-1.7%), New Hampshire (-1.5%), Ohio (-0.9%), and Florida (0.5%).
