US Gambling Industry Contributes $240B and Supports 1.7M Jobs

The study is conducted by Oxford Economics and reveals some interesting numbers

At a news conference on September 30, 2014, the American Gaming Association announced the results of a study which shows that US casinos and casino software developers had a $240 billion economic impact and supported 1.7 million jobs in 2013.

The number includes a total of $38 billion paid by the industry last year for local, state and federal taxes as well as taxes associated with property, income, gambling fees and so on. The study also takes into consideration the impact of tribal gambling and legal online gambling.

This years’ G2E Global Gaming Expo is held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas this week. Attracting over than 26,000 attendees in the past couple of years, the G2E trade show and conference is where new designs of slot machines, betting technology and other innovative concepts debut.

What Did the Study Reveal?

The study was undertaken by Oxford Economics and it includes almost everything: from bets made by gamblers to visitors buying gas or tickets for a show. It looks at the total revenue of the US gambling industry including its tax payments and taxes for income and property. The study also used additional tools to consider the impact of the industry on other businesses, especially those that are related to tourists and that sell goods to casino customers.

To be able to conduct the study, Oxford used the Longwoods International data of traveler spending particularly that of visitors that said that the reason for their visit was to go to a casino. The results were no surprise to the director of the Gaming Research Center at the University of Nevada, David Schwartz, who thinks that this is important part of telling the entire story. The story doesn’t include only casino gambling, but it also takes into account the impact of the industry on retails, hotels and so on.

“What the industry has achieved so far will not continue to thrive,” believes the president of the association Geoff Freeman. “Competition is growing and the gambling industry needs to seek regulatory changes in order to help make the gambling business more efficient as well as liberate companies to be more creative and innovative,” he added.

Generally speaking, the gambling industry has mainly suffered in Atlantic City where four land based casinos closed their doors this year, leaving over 8,000 people jobless.

To complete the study, Oxford Economics also looked at federal labor statistics, regulatory data and surveyed casinos. Spending and revenue is also included it may be connected, but not directly, to a land based casino.

High Percent from Las Vegas Revenue of MGM Comes from Non-Gambling

The CEO and chairman of MGM Resorts International James Murren also gave a statement before a G2E conference crowd. He said that 70% of the Las Vegas gambling revenue of the company comes from non-gambling sources. For example, there were 7 million tickets sold for entertainment shows in 2013. Apparently, non-gaming has also exploded for us, he said.