gaming equipment manufacturing

Dear Editor:

The June 2, 2010 article, “Equipment Maker Searches For Profit In The Mind Of The Gambler,” demonstrates, at best, a remarkable failure to understand the relationship between the gaming industry and our customers, and, at worst, reveals an anti-gaming bias.

There’s no way around it – this past year was tough. The down economy dealt most Americans challenges we haven’t faced in some time, if ever. For those of us in the commercial casino industry, that meant people had less money to spend on our products.  Our revenues in 2009 fell 5.5 percent from 2008 to $30.74 billion. This is the story told in the 2010 edition of AGA’s State of the States report.  But as challenging as the year was for most of us, that’s not the entire story.

Frank Fahrenkopf’s PowerPoint presentation from the 2009 East Coast Gaming Congress can be downloaded by clicking here.

WASHINGTON – Though the economic recession reached a fever pitch in 2008, it had the second highest revenues on record for the U.S. commercial casino industry. According to a report released today from the American Gaming Association (AGA), gross gaming revenues topped $32.5 billion in 2008, a 4.7 percent drop from 2007’s record-breaking total.

WASHINGTON – Despite a crippling recession during 2009, the U.S. commercial casino industry remained a vital asset to the nation’s economy. According to a report released today by the American Gaming Association (AGA), gross gaming revenues totaled $30.74 billion in 2009, a 5.5 percent drop from 2008.