The casino floors at resorts across the country are beginning to fill up again, and it looks like this trend may continue for a while.
For the first time in three months, casino visits are increasing across the U.S., and a new report predicts this upward trend will hold into 2025.
In November, foot traffic in casinos increased by almost 5% compared to the previous year, according to a report by CDC Gaming based on monthly regional research from Wall Street firm Jefferies Equities Research.
Jefferies analyst David Katz noted that while the data offers insights into how many people visit key markets, it also suggests that revenue per visitor is higher now than before the pandemic in 2019.
Katz explained that November foot traffic increased 4.8% year over year, although it was still 12.3% lower than in 2019.
Which States & Cities Saw Improvement?
Illinois maintained its 2019 levels while experiencing a 22% increase in visitors compared to last year. Detroit, Michigan saw a 70% increase due to labor strikes in its casinos last year, but numbers were 14% lower than in 2019.
Katz also pointed out that new casino openings in Kentucky affected performance comparisons with 2019, but foot traffic there was up by 4.1% over the previous year, driven more by seasonal factors than significant changes. Additionally, Black Hawk, Colorado experienced a 4% year-over-year rise in traffic, although Katz mentioned that new competition from Monarch made comparisons less clear.
Overall, November showed better foot traffic numbers for the year since September. However, casino operators in regional markets have observed varying results throughout 2024, Katz said. CDC Gaming reported these findings.
More Positive News For Casino Operators
Casino operators received more good news.
Statista Researchers surveyed over the summer and found that 41% of adults in the United States had visited a casino in the past year. This marked an 8% increase from the previous year and was the highest percentage recorded since 2011.
This finding supports the trends identified by Katz and his team in their report.
Stronger Q4 Numbers Coming For Casinos?
Since the trend of increased foot traffic at brick-and-mortar casinos is expected to continue into the new year, it should drive more revenue. The American Gaming Association (AGA) noted that revenue was a mixed bag in Q3.
While the overall revenue from slot machines and table games in Q3 was $12.38 billion, it fell slightly by less than 1% compared to last year. Revenue decreased in two out of the three months, with only August showing an increase.
In detail, slot machine revenue in the third quarter of 2024 increased compared to the same period in 2023, while table game revenue went down.
Nationwide, casinos earned $9.10 billion from slot machines, reflecting a 1.3% increase from the previous year, whereas table games brought in $2.42 billion, marking an 8.3% decrease. These figures exclude data from Louisiana and Michigan, where they report traditional casino earnings as a whole rather than separately for slots and table games.
It will be interesting to see if more people keep visiting casinos around the country as expected.
