U.S. commercial casinos won nearly $14 billion in the third quarter of 2021. That’s the industry’s best quarter ever. And it pushes U.S. casino revenue past what it was for all of the 2020. Sports betting is a big reason for that.
Related: Three of the world’s most luxurious casinos
That’s according to the American Gaming Association, the national trade group for the casino industry. More consumers are feeling more comfortable visiting casinos now coming out of the pandemic, and as online and sports betting revenues continue to grow.
Online sports bets fuel best quarter ever for U.S. casinos
According to this article in the Associated Press, casinos are well on pace to break the annual record of $43.65 billion, set in 2019.
“The explosive growth of internet gaming during the pandemic engaged a new audience of consumers who may have become curious about brick-and-mortar casinos and the in-person gaming experience,” said Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd Levenson Institute at New Jersey’s Stockton University. “Encouraged by casino marketing and loyalty programs they may have decided to try something new.”
Ten out of 25 states with commercial casinos saw quarterly revenue records. That included the four highest-grossing commercial gambling states in 2019: Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Mobile betting is really growing, seen in part through the online casino Pennsylvania scene. Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip hit an all-time high: $2.06 billion. (Top image: Wynn Sports Book, Las Vegas.)
Resorts World Las Vegas
The association said the record was driven, in part, by the steady return of tourism, with 9.2 million people visiting Las Vegas in the third quarter,. That’s a nearly 10% increase over the second quarter of this year. And it’s the highest quarterly visitation level since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020.
Internet gambling revenue set a record at $938.6 million. On the sports betting revenue, however, there was a quarterly low for 2021 of $886.5 million. That was due to a limited end-of-summer sports calendar. Look for that to change, obviously especially with the NFL cranking on full cylinders. Combined sports betting and internet gambling revenue through the first nine months of the year was $5.36 billion, up more than 200% year over year.
More Americans are buying more luxury vehicles, prices are soaring
According to a new report by Kelley Blue Book, the vehicle valuation and information source, new vehicle prices in the U.S. in October jumped for a seventh straight month. The average transaction price was $46,036, up 12.9 per cent from October 2020. Tight supply plus heightened consumer demand are the reasons.
New luxury vehicles sales were a big story there. Luxury share rose to 16.3% of the total market in October. That’s up from 15.2% a year ago. Luxury buyers paid an average of $61,020 for a new vehicle last month. The report adds that new-vehicle inventory remains far below healthy levels. And many automakers are steering available microchips to higher-end, higher-margin products. As a result, volumes are depressed, but sales revenue has jumped.
Porsche Cayenne
The Kelley Blue Book team expects inventory to remain tight through early 2022. Some examples: BMW saw a 5.2% average price increase comparing October 2021 to October 2022 and Mercedes-Benz saw a 15.1% increase. Jaguar saw a 24.3% increase, Land Rover was at 6.8%, and Porsche was at 5%.
