It’s no news flash that casino gambling is big business. But the American Gaming Association’s State of the States report (big pdf) shows just how popular gambling is. From Reuters:
Gambling revenue at U.S. casinos rose 5 percent last year to a record $30.3 billion, as more visitors flocked to a growing number of casinos in states such as Nevada, an industry group report released on Monday said.
The number of Americans who gambled on the Internet also doubled to about 4 percent of the population last year, and poker was popular online as well as offline, according to the 2006 “State of the States” report by the American Gaming Association, the trade body representing casino operators and related companies.
Gambling revenue increased in 10 of the 11 U.S. states that are home to the country’s 455 commercial casinos, the report said. Only Mississippi — where the industry was badly hit last year by Hurricane Katrina — saw a drop.
But for the first time in six years the number of Americans who did not approve of gambling rose, with 18 percent calling it unacceptable in 2006, compared with 15 percent last year, according to a survey in the annual report.
Most Americans, however, saw gambling as an important entertainment and tourism option, the report said. Casino-goers were also more likely to have attended college and earn more than the average person.
If you look at the pdf, you’ll see that it’s got a great retro font thing going on.
Of course, for me, this just means more info to be incorporated into the UNLV Gaming Abstract.