According to the American Gaming Association, 2017 was a bumper year for the gambling industry in the United States. Figures released by the group show that the industry contributed a whopping $261.4 billion to the economy last year. The numbers, which were calculated in a report by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the AGA, showed that federal, state and local governments hauled in $40.8 billion from the gambling industry. Of that, $10.7 billion was from gambling taxes. All in all, this was a 9.5% increase from three years ago.
“The results show that the US gaming industry supported a total economic impact of $261.4 billion of output, with 1.8 million jobs and $40.8 billion in tax revenue,” reads the report.
Additional highlights from the report showed:
- The gaming industry supported more direct jobs than any other industry (including plastics manufacturing, motion pictures or sound recording).
- Casino employment is equivalent to more than 1 in 30 leisure and hospitality jobs.
- Gaming industry direct spending totaled $109 billion ($89.4 billion spending at casinos, $13.3 billion ancillary spending by customers on casino visits and $6.3 billion of purchases from gaming manufacturers).
- Of the $89.4 billion spent at US casinos in 2017, $55.7 billion was spent at commercial casinos and $33.7 billion was spent at Native American casinos.
- 82% of the money spent at US casinos was spent on gambling, and the rest was spent on food, beverages, hotel accommodation and entertainment.
- Commercial casinos employed 361,000 people last year. They earned a total of $17.4 billion.
- Native American casinos employed nearly 200,000 people, who earned a total of $9.1 billion.
According to the senior vice president of public affairs for the AGA, Sara Slane: “Since our last study in 2014, casino gaming has expanded into new markets, offered innovative new entertainment options and enhanced its position as a key contributor to local, state and federal economies.”
The report shows that the $40.8 billion of tax revenues supported by the gaming industry represents an injection into public budgets at all levels that pays for a range of services. These include public safety, hospitals and schools.
“In fact,” reads the report,” total tax revenues, generated by the gaming industry, are enough to pay the salaries of approximately 692,000 teachers.”
