The European Casino Association (ECA), representing over 700 casinos and 60,000 employees across 29 countries, is gearing up for a historic turnout at ICE 2025, scheduled for January 20-22 in Barcelona. This marks the first time the prestigious casino industry event will be hosted outside the UK, signaling a new era for the event with expectations of record attendance.

Barcelona to Host Landmark Casino Industry Event

ECA Secretary General Hermann Pamminger, a veteran in the casino industry since his start at Casinos Austria International in 1991, shared his excitement about the upcoming event.

“ICE has historically been a pivotal event for our industry, held in locations like London Olympia and ExCeL London. The move to Barcelona represents a significant transition to a vibrant, dynamic city that promises to bring fresh energy and a broader European perspective to our gathering,” stated Pamminger.

The decision to move ICE from the UK to Barcelona has sparked a wave of enthusiasm among ECA members. The event will occupy 120,000 square meters at The Gran Via, compared to the 100,000 sqm in previous venues in London, offering more space for the anticipated influx of professionals from across the globe.

Record Participation and Expanded Offerings

The relocation is expected to attract a larger number of casino executives and industry buyers from across Europe, drawn by the opportunity to network, engage with a world-leading content programme, and explore innovations from a record 1,000 exhibitors. These exhibitors represent a wide range of sectors and jurisdictions, showcasing the latest in technology, regulatory updates, and market opportunities.

“The feedback from our members indicates that we will see more casino industry executives than ever before at ICE, engaging with the extensive array of exhibitors and participating in sessions that span all verticals of the industry,” Pamminger added. The event will also continue to host significant meetings and events, such as the ECA Board Meeting, General Assembly, and the traditional CEO dinner, to cater to the growing needs of attendees.

A New Chapter for Europe’s Casino Industry

The move to Barcelona is viewed not just as a change in venue but as a strategic shift that could redefine the future of Europe’s land-based casino industry. With ICE 2025, the ECA aims to set a new benchmark for industry gatherings, enhancing opportunities for networking, collaboration, and innovation.

ICE and the co-located iGB Affiliate event will provide a comprehensive platform for industry professionals to gain insights into entering new markets and expanding their market share. The Gran Via’s modular and versatile Convention Centre, with seating for up to 12,000 people, is ideally suited to accommodate the expanded scale of ICE, promising a landmark event that will celebrate and catalyze growth in the casino industry.

Source:

“ICE Barcelona will host biggest participation of European casino industry professionals – predict ECA”, europeangaming.eu, May 9, 2024.

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The online gambling market in Pennsylvania is rapidly growing, which is proven by the fact that revenue smashed the records in February, even though other states recorded a year-on-year decrease in revenue.

Online gambling revenue

According to the report, Pennsylvania generated $184.9 million in online gambling revenue in February.

Overall, the revenue was $499.1 million. Compared to the same period the previous year, an increase of 9.3% is recorded, since in February 2023 the revenue was $456.8 million. However, in January 2024, the total revenue was $464.4 million, so February recorded a decrease of 1.6%.

The main source of revenue in Pennsylvania is still retail slots which generated $202,7 million. The revenue was slightly decreased, but the growth is recorded when considering the number of slot machines decreased from 25,708 to 24,962.

Land-based table games also had a successful period, since the revenue generated from them was $76,6 million, representing an increase of 2.9%. In 2023, the Pennsylvania online gambling market reached a revenue of $131.6 million. Compared to that, total iGaming revenue grew by 40.5% to $184.9 million in 2024.

Online slots generated $125.9 million, 35.6% more than in the previous year, while online table games earned $56.6 million, which represents an increase of 56.7%. Online poker wasn’t as popular as it used to be in 2023, since it generated $2.4 million, 8.3% less than in the year before.

Industry leaders

The casino that saw the highest revenue is Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. Its online gaming operations earned $77.3 million in February, 36.8% more than in the same month of 2023.

The second place took Valley Forge Casino Resort, which generated $44,8 million. The casino operations saw significant growth since the revenue increased by 63.0%. Rivers Casino Philadelphia took the third place, with $29.3 million and an increase of 11.4%.

Sports betting revenue

On the other hand, sports betting isn’t as popular as it used to be in 2023. When it comes to total revenue, it decreased by 30.0% annually, and in February 2024 it was $30.3 million. The online betting sector saw $28.2 million, and retail revenue was $2.1 million.

However, the total handle increased by 10.4%, and in February it was $661.7 million, while in 2023 that number was $599.5 million.

A leader in the sports betting industry was Valley Forge Casino Resort and its partner FanDuel that earned 17.7 million in revenue. The second was Hollywood Casino at the Meadows and DraftKings, with $7.7 million in revenue, and Hollywood Casino Morgantown and BetMGM were the third with $1.2 million. Video lottery terminals saw a decline of 2.4%, with a revenue of $3.2 million, and fantasy sports decreased by 5.2% to $1.3 million.

Source: Fletcher, Robert. “Pennsylvania iGaming revenue reaches record $184.9m in February”. iGaming Business. March 20, 2024.

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The commercial gaming industry in the United States has experienced a remarkable surge in revenue, marking its third consecutive year of record-breaking financial success. According to the latest report from the American Gaming Association (AGA), the industry’s annual revenue reached an unprecedented $66.5 billion in 2023, surpassing the previous year’s high by a substantial margin.

AGA CEO Bill Miller Applauds Milestone Growth

The remarkable growth was highlighted by a record-breaking fourth quarter in 2023, with revenues soaring to $17.4 billion, further solidifying the industry’s position as a key contributor to the nation’s economy. December alone witnessed an astonishing $6.2 billion in revenue, marking the highest-grossing month in the history of the industry.

AGA President and CEO, Bill Miller, attributed this phenomenal success to the burgeoning demand for gaming among American adults. Miller emphasized that the industry’s ability to sustain this momentum would require collaborative efforts to combat illegal operators while simultaneously promoting responsible gambling initiatives. He stressed the AGA’s commitment to leading these efforts throughout 2024.

The evolution of the commercial gaming landscape was evident in the report, with online gaming emerging as a significant contributor, accounting for nearly a quarter or 24.7% of total commercial gaming revenue in 2023, reaching a new annual high. 

Gaming Revenue Booms Across Traditional Gambling, Sports Betting, and iGaming

Across multiple sectors, significant growth was evident. In traditional gaming, revenue from brick-and-mortar casinos surged to $49.4 billion, with a notable 19 out of 27 markets achieving record annual revenue. 

The sports betting sector experienced remarkable expansion, as total wagers peaked at $119.8 billion and revenue reached $10.9 billion, fueled by maturation in existing markets and entry into new territories like Massachusetts and Ohio. 

Meanwhile, iGaming saw a substantial uptick, with online casino revenue jumping by 22.9% to $6.2 billion in states with fully legalized online gaming.

The report also highlighted the geographic distribution of gaming revenue, with notable growth observed in various markets. The Las Vegas Strip emerged as the top-performing market, followed by New Jersey, Chicago metropolitan area, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Furthermore, the commercial gaming industry’s contributions to state and local governments reached unprecedented levels in 2023, with operators paying an estimated $14.4 billion in direct gaming revenue taxes—an increase of 9.7% compared to the previous year.

This influx of revenue plays a vital role in supporting critical public services, infrastructure projects, and education programs across the country.As the industry continues to thrive, Miller emphasized its role as an economic driver, creating jobs and providing essential funding for communities nationwide.

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Casino operators across the globe constantly strive to improve the conditions for their customers by rolling out different amenities. From comfortable chairs to the latest video slots and a wide range of table games, the competition among operators is fierce.

Currently, Macau is one major gambling hub for the Asian region and operators there also focus on ensuring exceptional entertainment for their guests. Now, according to a new study, the overall Gaming Service Index (GIS) across Macau for 2023, hit a new record. As announced by IAG, recently, the Macau Gaming Research Association (MGRA) released the results of its “Macau Gaming Service Index (GSI) 2023” survey, uncovering important details about the positive change within the gambling sector.

In 2013, when the first MGRA survey was released, the gambling sector in the country started from a base of 100 points. Ten years later, for the fourth quarter of 2023, Macau’s GSI was evaluated at 145 points. This result marked the highest-ever GSI recorded and represented an uptick of 7 points when compared to the Q4 2022 result of 138.

The second-best result ever recorded in terms of Macau’s GSI was 139, dating from Q2 2017. Overall, over the last decade, a rising trend was observed in Macau’s GSI, culminating with the latest result.

The Number of Players Boosts Casino Employee’s Performance

Besides the overall GSI for the gaming sector in Macau, the latest survey uncovered interesting insights regarding the sector. There were three main categories that were used for the assessment of gaming staff within the survey. Those categories included “smile,” “proactivity,” and “tolerance.”

When it comes to the smiling index, the latest survey revealed a result of 171, up when compared to the results from last year. Similarly, the proactivity index hit 172, marking once again an increase when compared to the results from the previous year. Last but not least, the tolerance index was 103, according to the latest study.

The newly released study made an important discovery, highlighting a connection between the recorded indexes and the number of players participating in a table game. According to the recent results, if there were between seven and nine gamblers participating in a game, the smile, proactivity and tolerance indexes were 1.13, 0.87 and 0.74. An increase to 1.24, 0.98 and 0.82 respectively was observed whenever there were more than nine players participating in a table game.

The collection of data for the new study was completed via mystery shopping surveys. A dozen casinos in Macau were evaluated for the latest GSI index.

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The leading supplier of casino entertainment responsible for creating premium business-to-business online slots, Play’n GO, has proclaimed the month of December 2023 as the highest-performing month in all of its history.

Play’n GO has reached a record number in terms of rounds played, daily active players, as well as gross gambling revenue. Here is a breakdown of the factors that helped the company reach the impressive toll. 

Blockbuster Game Releases and Breakout Performances 

A series of Blockbuster releases including Gargantoonz in November and the fantastic breakout performance of the studio’s iconic Piggy Blitz recorded in the US where the title was ranked first in New Jersey compared to all new releases are the primary reasons for the record figures. 

Other similarly popular titles released by Play’n GO over the past months are Raging Rex 3 and Legacy of Dynasties, two games that keep building upon the studio’s original franchises. 

The standout numbers are a clear reflection of the company’s success in regulated markets worldwide and rapidly follows its previous one-day record set for the largest number of rounds played on November 1 (250 million rounds).

Play’n GO has also strengthened its foothold in the entertainment world by announcing the launch of Play’n GO Music at the start of December 2023 while also becoming one of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s sponsors.

The Swedish gaming giant’s fresh music division will see it work together with a series of artists for the development of audio for upcoming games, marking a pioneering move in the industry.  

Play’n GO: “Can’t Wait to See What 2024 Brings” 

The company’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Johan Törnqvist, took the opportunity to explain that while they have been around for two decades, they are “only just getting started” while expressing eagerness to see what 2024 has in store for them. 

Törnqvist also commented on their ongoing growth plans, saying he was “immensely proud of the entire team today” while also using the opportunity to emphasize they can keep growing and breaking their own records.

The CEO called December “a great month” for the company that did not happen by chance. He explained that it took hard work and innovation across all business areas which is often not visible to observers. 

Törnqvist added that it was “brilliant to see great financial results that confirm we’re on a great path towards a sustainable and thriving business for many years to come.”

During the same record-breaking month, Play’n GO announced its growth on Italian soil via a new William Hill agreement. 

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Over the last few months, mobile sports betting operators in New York have reported exceptional results. The betting handle reported by the operators in October hit a $2 billion record, making the state the first one to surpass such a sum in wagers. Continuing this upward trend, November marked the second month in a row with a betting handle above $2 billion.

New York’s mobile sports betting market isn’t slowing down, considering the latest results released by the gambling regulator in the state, the New York State Gaming Commission. Wrapping up a successful year, betting operators posted $2.04 billion in betting handle for December 2023.

This result came close to the all-time record set in November when the betting handle hit $2.11 billion. While the betting handle didn’t surpass the result from November, a significant increase was observed in the mobile sports wagering gross gaming revenue (GGR). Last month, betting operators posted $188.3 million in GGR, a new record result that marked a $37.4 million increase when compared to the $150.9 million in GGR posted in November.

Year-over-year comparison of the results in December also shows significant growth. For December 2022, mobile betting operators posted $1.62 billion in betting handle. When compared to the $2.04 billion in betting handle posted last month, an increase of nearly 26% is observed. It’s not a surprise that the mobile sports betting GGR last month also marked a year-over-year increase by growing nearly 33% when compared to the same month in 2022.

FanDuel and DraftKings Maintain Their Leadership in New York

A breakdown of the $188.3 million in GGR shows that the operators’ share was $92.3 million, making another all-time high result. Similarly, New York’s net revenue to education also set an all-time high record hitting $96 million. This result marked a significant increase year-over-year when compared to the $72.3 million net revenue to education posted for December 2022.

It’s no surprise that market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings posted the highest betting handle and mobile betting GGR last month.

In December, FanDuel’s betting handle hit $834.5 million, the highest out of all operators for the month. Considering the betting handle, FanDuel posted $93.6 million in sports wagering GGR, a result which translates to $45.8 million in net revenue for the platform provider and $47.7 million in net revenue to education.

Following closely, DraftKings had the second-highest betting handle, posting $773.4 million last month. In December, the operator saw $31.9 million in net revenue, while the revenue toward the state’s education was $33.2 million.

Arriving third was Caesars Sportsbook, followed by BetMGM. Overall, the mobile betting handle reported by Caesars last month was nearly $202 million, resulting in a GGR of $15.9 million. On the other hand, BetMGM also enjoyed a strong month with its $126.5 million in wagers which brought $8.1 million in betting GGR.

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According to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), the sector posted $175.3 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR), the highest since the vertical launched in January 2021. The present tally excludes the $37 million collected through online sports betting, and the results edge out the previous record set by the state in March 2023, when online casinos posted $171.8 million in GGR. These results come amid a strong month for sportsbooks as well, and the launch of ESPN Bet.

New Record for iGaming as Tax Revenue Prospects Brighten

There were notable standouts during November, with MGM Grand’s BetMGM becoming the first operator in the state to scoop up $46.7 million in a single month from the segment. Online casinos have continued to improve consistently since last year as well. Comparing results from November 2022 to last month, there was a 20.5% gain in GGR on the $145.4 million that online casinos posted last year.

Online gaming has been an important driver of tax revenue, with the City of Detroit confident that it would top $81 million from tax windfall this year thanks to the vertical. The MGCB provided a detailed breakdown of individual performance markers as well.

FanDuel, MotorCity’s iGaming operator managed to bring in another $43.9 million, and DraftKings’ online casino operators contributed another $34.7 million to the total.

Part of the boost that online casinos saw has to do with the ongoing although concluded strikes in Detroit which have elevated the status of online platforms and given players more opportunity to explore the vertical, admittedly on short notice, and for a want of alternative.

Protests Upset Land-Based Results as iGaming Surges

Yet, the same casinos that partner with digital skins did face some issues. MotorCity, Greentown and MGM Grand brought in only $76 million from their land-based operations, which was a notable 24% drop from the results posted in November 2022. Revenue declined by more than $23.9 million, with MGM posting $30.6 million or down 34%.

MotorCity managed to pull in 24.7% million, but these results were still 18% down from last year’s. Not least, there was Greektown which earned $20.7 million, with results down 11%. A silver lining is that a union agreement has been reached and workers have returned to the physical casinos. In the meantime, union leaders have encouraged players to avoid online gambling and wait for the normalization of land-based operations. Their appeals have been left mostly unheeded.

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As the festive season approaches, concerns are mounting in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) over the AUD 15 million ($10.1 million) year-on-year rise in gambling losses among its populace. This trend roughly matches other regions in the country, placing increasing pressure on local authorities and the federal government to implement better player protection policies and curb the growing gambling addiction epidemic.

Gambling Tax Income Comes at a Price

Recent data from the NT’s Department of Industry, Tourism, and Trade exposes the immense daily average of AUD 411,000 ($277,000) poured into poker machines across the region. Nearly half of these losses occurred in Darwin, where 722 pokies operate within 31 venues. This sum amounts to AUD 149 million ($100.42 million)  spent on poker machines in 2022-23, a worrying AUD 15 million increase.

Despite this worrying trend, higher poker machine profits contributed to the NT government’s substantial revenue of AUD 48.4 million ($32.62 million) from gaming machine taxes and an additional AUD 15.1 million ($10.18 million) from a community benefit levy raised by casinos and hotels last fiscal year. While these results underscore the financial significance of gambling within the region, they also caused significant player safety concerns.

Government data showing a recurrent December increase and subsequent January decrease in poker machine losses over the past three years has triggered concerns as welfare groups and researchers believe financial stressors and heightened emotions during the holiday season can be particularly detrimental to vulnerable individuals. These can be especially problematic in a society already struggling with addiction.

The Problem Is Not Isolated to NT

While NT’s gambling losses are impressive, they pale compared to other regions like New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, where this figure reaches well into the billions. Kim Caudwell, a senior lecturer in psychology at Charles Darwin University (CDU), told ABC News that Australians had a cultural affinity for gambling, noting that the government’s efforts to curtail this phenomenon were a monumental task.

Australians love to gamble. It’s something that’s very much embedded in our culture.

Kim Caudwell, CDU senior lecturer in psychology

Regions like New South Wales have undertaken extensive measures to combat this worrying trend. The upcoming cashless gambling trial shows substantial promise. If this measure is successful, it will be a significant milestone in Australia’s battle against problem gaming and may inspire other regions to follow suit. While NT has made some efforts to reduce the number of pokies in public venues, its efforts have been largely ineffective.

As concerns escalate, stakeholders urge proactive measures, emphasizing the urgency to support problem gamblers, address the root causes of addiction, and implement comprehensive strategies to counteract the societal impact of excessive gambling. The federal government faces rising pressure for rapid reform, but it cannot do so without the cooperation of local authorities.

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It seems that residents of Connecticut are enjoying the opportunity to gamble in their own state! The state smashed the records and achieved the highest revenue ever in October this year.

Smashed records

The Connecticut State Department for Consumer Protection released its monthly revenue report, and the results are stunning. The state’s online gambling operators earned $46.2 million in total revenue. Compared to September 2023, the increase is 5.2%, while compared to the same month last year, the increase is even bigger, 34.7%.

When it comes to online casino gaming, the total win was $31.1 million in October, which is 2.6% higher than the $30.3 million in wins recorded in September.

The total amount of placed bets is also higher than in September. In October, the total was $1.14 billion, and in September, the amount was $1.12 billion.

A huge percentage of revenue is achieved thanks to DraftKings, which remains the leader when it comes to online gambling in Connecticut. Its partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot tribe has proven greatly successful, and it brought $18.7 million in revenue. The total amount of money from the wagers placed thanks to this partnership was $688.3 million.

The second most successful is FanDuel, which partnered with Mohegan Sun. They earned $12.3 million in revenue together, and the value of placed bets was $458.8 million.

When it comes to sports betting, there was a huge increase as well. The total reported revenue achieved from wagers was $189.6 million in October, which was 15.5% more than in the same period last year. About 93.7%, or $177.1 million, was generated from online sportsbooks, and the remainder was gained from retail sportsbooks, which means that the players of Connecticut enjoy online betting way more than the retail casinos.

Online sportsbooks

When it comes to online sportsbooks, FanDuel and its partner, Mohegan, earned the most and became the market leader in sports betting with a revenue of $7.6 million.

The second was DraftKings and Mashantucket, with a revenue of $6.3 million.

Overall, the sportsbooks from Connecticut earned revenue of $16.3 million in October, which records a huge increase of 29.3% compared to the previous year. Online sports betting revenue brought in more than 15 million, which also hit a record in the state.

When it comes to state taxes, the revenue from sports betting generated $2.2 million, which is the biggest amount of money the state has earned since the legalization of sports betting in October 2021.

Source: Mulligan, Richard, “Connecticut posts record gambling figures in October 2023”, iGamingBusiness. November 21, 2023.

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The American Gaming Association, the United States gambling industry association, revealed that 2023 is bound to become a record year for the U.S. gambling industry when it comes to revenue.

In the third quarter of the year the United States commercial gambling sector managed to generate revenue of 16.17 billion dollars, a figure which represents an increase of 6.1 percent compared to the same quarter of last year. Moreover, this was the eleventh consecutive quarter of revenue growth and also the best third quarter in the history of the American gambling industry.

All verticals within the gaming industry registered growth during the quarter, with land-based casinos and iGaming registering all-time records for a single quarter. However, the pace of growth did slow for a second consecutive quarter due to the difficulty of surpassing the already solid figures that were registered last year.

The report released by the American Gaming Association took into account results registered in 33 commercial gaming jurisdictions that were operational one year ago. Seventeen of the 33 jurisdictions registered increases in revenue during the third quarter compared to 2022. Moreover, five states managed to set new records for a single quarter, including the two biggest commercial gaming markets in the country: Nevada and New Jersey.

In Nevada, gaming revenue registered an increase of 2.9 percent year-on-year, reaching a total amount of 3.88 billion dollars. The increase was driven by a record-breaking quarter for the famous casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, which managed to generate 741.2 million dollars during the quarter. The period also saw the highest baccarat win in state history: 458.4 million dollars.

Strong Economic Contributions

Bill Miller, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Gaming Association, welcomed the record figures registered by the association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. This tool provides state-by-state insight into the American gaming industry and its financial performance. At the end of the third quarter there were 35 states that had operational commercial gaming markets with legal casino gaming, sports betting or online gaming. The District of Columbia also has an operational commercial gaming market.

Speaking about the sector’s importance in the American economy, Bill Miller underlined that the gaming industry provides “strong economic contributions” that help communities all around the country as it provides increased tax revenue and jobs for “millions of Americans.”

State and local governments in states that have operational commercial gaming markets gaming received an estimated 3.43 billion dollars in taxes tied directly to gaming revenue, a figure which represents an increase of 4.7 percent compared to last year.

Bill Miller also revealed that players in America “continue to migrate” towards legal and regulated sports betting and gaming options. “This sustained demand only reinforces the need for federal and state enforcement against illegal, offshore operators,” the American Gaming Association CEO concluded.

Source: “AGA: US gambling revenue set for record year after lucrative Q3“. iGaming Business. November 17, 2023.

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