The American Gaming Association (AGA) has published its July Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker report, which provides state-by-state and cumulative insight into the US commercial gaming industry’s financial performance.

The report revealed some encouraging key findings, specifically that July was the third straight month of dramatically improving revenue conditions for commercial gaming, despite revenue being down 23.9% year-over-year.

It also shows that commercial casinos generated $2.83bn of gaming revenue in July, more than in the three preceding months combined, despite continuing to operate with limited capacity, game availability, and amenities.

On the sports betting front, revenue was up 18.9% in the first seven months of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, while the total amount wagered has increased 3.2% to $5.88bn. Much of this growth, said the AGA, is attributable to the opening of nine new markets in the last 12 months.

The restart of some major sports leagues helped return the national sports betting vertical to growth following four months of year-on-year contraction. July sports betting revenue was $69m, up 86.2% from last year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, commercial sportsbooks had seen strong growth, with sports betting revenue up 235.5% in January and 64.5% in February compared to the same months last year.

During July, national commercial gaming revenue continued to recover from lows in April and May, the height of the industry’s COVID-19-related shutdown. While July revenue was down 23.9% year-over-year, it was the third straight month of dramatically improving revenue conditions for commercial gaming. 

Thirty-two commercial casinos partially reopened throughout July – including all properties in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Jersey – while 50 remained closed at month’s end. 

“Even as all commercial properties remained shuttered in major gaming states like New York and Michigan, commercial casinos generated more gaming revenue in July than in the three preceding months combined,” the report noted.

Many gaming states recorded strong revenue figures for July despite continuing to operate with limited capacity, game availability, and amenities. Ohio reported its highest monthly gaming revenue on record, while Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota outperformed July of last year and six other states saw gaming revenue down by only single digit percentages.