Since arriving in Michigan, casinos have fueled Detroit’s economic resurgence and provided invaluable resources for the state’s sovereign tribal nations by creating reliable jobs, funding revitalization efforts, and supporting community nonprofits.

Casinos & Communities: Michigan presents an in-depth analysis of gaming’s impact on the Great Lakes State, combining key quantitative analysis—$6.3 billion in annual economic impact and 38,000 jobs supported—with stories from those that live and work around Michigan’s casinos.

Owner and President of Brooks Lumber Ray Formosa comments that “the resurgence of [the Corktown, Detroit] neighborhood started with the emergence of the casinos.” While Brenda Jones, president of the Detroit City Council, says, “The casinos helped the city of Detroit in many ways, not just by revenue, but by entertainment, by tourism.”

When it comes to Michigan’s sovereign tribal nations, gaming revenue has funded the construction of “state-of-the-art facilities, buildings, and health departments,” says Derek King, Calhoun County commissioner. The impact of tribal casinos extends to surrounding communities as well, including Battle Creek, MI, where City Manager Rebecca Fleury says, “[Tribal gaming] brings people from all over the state and beyond the state of Michigan. They go to the casino, but they also come into downtown Battle Creek, they eat at local restaurants. Some of them like it so much they stay.”

Whether it be creating economic growth and opportunity or supporting charity and critical infrastructure, Michiganders across the state consistently highlight casinos a positive force in their communities.

WASHINGTON – American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Bill Miller will testify at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing titled, “Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics,” on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Miller will discuss how legal, regulated sports betting protects consumers, athletes, and all levels of competition.

WHO:         U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary
WHAT:        Hearing titled, “Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics”
WHEN:        Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE:     Dirksen Senate Office Building G50 and streaming here.

LAS VEGAS – Today, the American Gaming Association (AGA), with partner Reed Exhibitions, formally announced the cancellation of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the gaming industry’s top global event. The show’s organizers are committed to facilitating economic, education, and networking opportunities for the global gaming industry through a series of virtual G2E events throughout the rest of the year to better reflect the current environment. G2E was scheduled to take place October 5-8, 2020; the next in-person edition of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) will take place October 4-7, 2021 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

“In light of continued uncertainty around a viable marketplace at a physical G2E show, global travel restrictions, and currently unknown guidance on large public gatherings this fall, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that we simply cannot hold an in-person G2E this year,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Health and safety have always been our top priority and the uncertainty created by the ongoing pandemic makes this the prudent decision ahead of critical deadlines for exhibitors planning to participate.”

For 20 years, G2E has welcomed nearly 30,000 attendees annually from across the globe, including executives representing key industry partners such as the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, as well as the world’s top casino operators, sports betting companies, and FinTech and digital payments facilitators, among others.

“We arrived at this decision after thoughtfully engaging with national, state, and local public health authorities, as well as exhibitors and buyers who have shared industry observations and priorities. Ultimately, it became clear that proceeding with an in-person gathering simply was not feasible,” said Hervé Sedky, Reed Exhibitions Americas President.

“It is our commitment to use G2E’s platform, as the leading convener of the global gaming community, to continue to deliver unparalleled education content, inspiring collaboration, and innovative ideas as the industry readies for continued growth,” added Sedky.

“As the country works to reopen, the American gaming industry continues to adapt and provide the safest possible experience for our employees and customers while continuing to support the communities in which we operate. We look forward to the moment when we can convene together again with our colleagues from across the world and celebrate the resilience that our industry is known for,” concluded Miller.

The event organizers will announce plans for virtual events and education in the near future.

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About Global Gaming Expo
Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the largest gathering of global commercial and tribal gaming professionals in North America, showcases the latest developments in gaming technology and features new educational content that is fast-paced and actionable. Attendees will experience firsthand the new products and innovative technologies showcased on the expo floor. G2E has everything you need for your casino floor and across your entire operation—from traditional casino fare to non-gaming amenities and digital products—G2E is where business growth is accelerated.

About the AGA
The American Gaming Association is the premier national trade group representing the $261 billion U.S. casino industry, which supports 1.8 million jobs nationwide. The AGA members include commercial and tribal casino operators, suppliers and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry. It is the mission of the AGA to achieve sound policies and regulations consistent with casino gaming’s modern appeal and vast economic contributions.  

About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants. Our events, organized by 35 global offices, leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable our customers to generate billions of dollars of revenues for the economic development of local markets and national economies around the world.  Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.reedexhibitions.com

Washington, D.C. – Amidst an evolving economic landscape, gaming executives report a positive outlook on future industry business conditions while remaining satisfied with the current business environment, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.

Nearly all gaming executives surveyed characterized the current business environment as good (44%) or satisfactory (50%), mirroring similar sentiment from Q3 2023. Meanwhile, executives are more optimistic about future conditions, with 32 percent of CEOs expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months, up from 20 percent in Q3 2023.

“Gaming’s record-setting growth over the last three years has set a new standard for industry success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “However, as we enter a period of market normalization, continued investment and innovation in offering world-class, responsible entertainment experiences will be required to maintain industry momentum.”

Gaming Executive Panel
Gaming executives have become more positive in their views that overall balance sheet health will improve over the next six months (42% net positive), but they expect the pace of revenue growth (13% net negative) and new hiring (22% net negative) to slow. These expectations for decelerating growth have influenced expectations for increases in capital investment and gaming units in operation, with smaller net positive sentiments than before.

• In contrast to past Outlooks, gaming equipment suppliers are slightly pessimistic about the sale of gaming units for replacement use and new or expansion use (both 13% net negative). However, they remain optimistic about the pace of capital investment (38% net positive).
• Half of operator CEOs expect capital investments in hotels over the next year to be higher than normal, and compared to last fall, more also expect higher than normal levels of capital investment in meetings and conventions and table games (28%). Meanwhile, 44 percent of CEOs expect increases in food and beverage investment, down from 67 percent in Q3 2023.

These expectations are also informed by evolving macroeconomic challenges. Executives report that inflationary or interest rate concerns continue to be a major factor limiting operations (28%), but these have been overtaken by geo-political risk (34%) and uncertainty of the economic environment (34%) as the biggest limiting factors in the most recent Gaming Executive Panel.

Current Conditions Index
The Current Conditions Index of 102.8 for Q1 indicates solid annualized real economic growth in the industry of 2.8%. This includes gaming revenue, employment and employee wages and salaries. Notably, the Current Conditions Index shows gaming expanding faster than the overall U.S. economy which last week reported 1.6 percent GDP growth in Q1 2024.

Future Conditions Index
The Future Conditions Index stands at 102.2, indicating annualized industry economic activity, after controlling for underlying inflation, is expected to moderately increase over the next six months. This outlook reflects Oxford Economics’ forecast that the U.S. economy will slow during 2024 but avoid recession. Despite a projected economic slowdown, consumer survey results continue to indicate that more than one-third of adults expect to visit a casino during the next 12 months, consistent with prior quarter results.

About the Outlook
The AGA Gaming Industry Outlook is prepared biannually by Oxford Economics. It provides a timely measure of recent industry growth and future expectations. The Q1 2024 survey was conducted between March 28 – April 10, 2024. A total of 32 executives responded, including executives at the major international and domestic gaming companies, tribal gaming operators, single-unit casino operators, major gaming equipment suppliers, and major iGaming and/or sports betting operators.

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AGA Vice President Alex Costello issued the following statement on the U.S. Treasury 2024 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment:

“It is our long-held view that new forms of legal gaming, like online sports betting and iGaming, require specific BSA guidance to ensure the U.S. financial system is protected from money laundering. In the absence of such guidance, AGA members have built on decades of experience from robust casino compliance to create and deploy AML controls for online gaming. Our members stand ready to work with the Department of Treasury to ensure that legal, online operators have the guidance needed to build on our current programs and meet the high standards already employed by the casino industry.

This is in stark contrast to the illegal, offshore marketplace. These predatory websites—which rely on cryptocurrency and employ no AML safeguards—pose the most significant risk of gambling-related financial crimes. The federal government must prioritize enforcement against these bad actors to protect American consumers and the U.S. financial system.”

NEXT Summit New York 2024 is North America’s premier iGaming and Sports Betting Summit. This is where 300 operators, 100 start-ups, and a senior crowd of decision makers, investors and top media gather to drive serious business and shape the future of iGaming.

Odds & Outlaws: From Legal Sports Betting to Illegal Gambling

Overview

The American Gaming Association’s comprehensive Commercial Gaming Revenue Database gives members the ability to quickly benchmark domestic gaming performance in real time. The database aggregates millions of historical data points published by state regulatory authorities into an easily filterable Excel spreadsheet, saving AGA members significant research time or third-party subscription costs.

Features

• Monthly property- and market-level data entries dating back to the inception of commercial casino gaming in most states, allowing users to identify trends in U.S. land-based commercial gaming revenue and taxes. 
• Where available, includes data on machine coin-in, table drop, casino admissions, operating days, gambling positions and other variables, allowing further contextualization of performance metrics. 
• Includes sports betting and iGaming data at the brand, licensee or state level.
• Key metrics are summarized at the state level and visualized through a series of interactive pivot tables. 
• The dataset is continuously updated as new revenue reports are published by state regulators. 
• Further variables may be incorporated in the future, such as property location metrics, owner/operator, number of employees or tax allocation.

Contact the Research Team for Member-Exclusive Access

AGA Commercial Gaming Database Overview, By State

The AGA Commercial Gaming Database is provided to members of the American Gaming Association for their exclusive, internal use.