US commercial gaming revenue reached a quarterly record of $15.17bn in Q3 2022, according to the latest data from the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker.

The all-time high marks a 2% uptick on the previous record of $14.81bn, which was set in the prior quarter (Q2 2022).

The performance proves that commercial gaming’s annual growth rate in Q3 2022 of 8.8% has outperformed the broader US economy’s growth rate of 2.6% over the same period.

“While business challenges remain, high consumer demand continues to fuel our industry’s record success,” said AGA president and CEO Bill Miller.

“Our sustained momentum in the face of broader economic volatility points to gaming’s overall health today and provides confidence as we look to the future.”

Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson: “There’s many sectors out there that are facing huge headwinds, but if you look at every KPI that we look at both internally and externally, it’s pointing to a good amount of optimism in our specific industry.”

Despite a major hiccup during the Covid-19 pandemic, land-based slots and table games continue to be the foundation for the industry’s revenue growth in the US. The verticals generated a record $12.27bn in Q3 2022, up 1.8% from Q3 2021.

Sports betting also recorded a new quarterly record for revenue at $1.68bn – a rise of 80.6% – driven by a high sportsbook win percentage thanks to favourable results for operators and the proliferation of the vertical into new states, as well as strong growth in existing states.

iGaming, which is still only live in a handful of US states, generated revenue of $1.21bn to fall 1% short of a new quarterly record.

Out of the 33 commercial gaming states that were operational one year ago, 16 reported quarterly highs in overall commercial gaming revenue for Q3 2022, including five of the six largest markets: Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Pennsylvania.

The first nine months of 2022 are now on pace to surpass 2021 as the highest-grossing commercial gaming revenue year ever. Performance is currently tracking 14.7% ahead of 2021 and has already surpassed full-year revenue for 2019.

The latest AGA figures add weight to the argument that gambling is resilient in times of great financial difficulty. The US gambling industry is generating more revenue than ever before, despite the wide array of economic headwinds affecting consumers globally.

Light & Wonder’s newly appointed CEO Matt Wilson faced a question on this topic during the gaming supplier’s Q3 earnings call. He described the sector as “recession resilient”.

“I think we’re seeing that in the numbers,” said Wilson. “We watched closely the operator earnings last week and kudos to them, they’ve got very healthy businesses at the moment with great momentum.

“We’re looking at all of these macro trends, looking at all the KPIs and data, and it’s pointing to the industry being really resilient.

“I think this goes back to this idea that this macroeconomic environment is being discriminated in the way that it affects different sectors.

“There’s many sectors out there that are facing huge headwinds, but if you look at every KPI that we look at both internally and externally, it’s pointing to a good amount of optimism in our specific industry,” he added.

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