U.S. Casinos: Gambling revenue up 5.3% in 2007

According to the report by the American Gaming Association (AGA) released today, gamblers lost $34.1 billion at the U.S. commercial casinos last year, or 5.3% more than they did in 2006. According to the report, 54.5 million visitors made 376 million trips to casinos last year, which is the rough equivalent to a quarter of the country's adult population. State and local governments received $5.79 billion in tax revenue from the casino industry in 2007, up 11.3 percent from 2006. The biggest increase in revenue was seen at the casinos in Iowa and Mississippi, up 16.2 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. An interesting fact in the report - the AGA annual survey found 84% of U.S. adults viewed casino gambling as "acceptable for themselves or others", which blows away the myth that most adults are against gambling. Although the report for 2007 shows a significant increase in gambling revenues at the U.S. casinos, the gambling establishments in the country are already feeling the sting from the slowing economy in 2008, with gambling companies not only failing to report increasing profits for the first quarter, but posting loses instead, and earlier this month casino operator Tropicana Entertainment LLC said it filed for bankruptcy protection.

Published on 05/14/2008