How Big Has the Gambling Industry Become?

It has been rather interesting to see how the gambling industry has grown as much as it has over the years. A recent study from the American Gaming Association has found that the gambling industry just keeps on growing and continues to be big in a number of forms.

What Was Reviewed?

The AGA took a look at gaming around the country in terms of how it has been raising funds in many forms. These include many funds in the form of taxes.

The gambling industry includes not only traditional casinos but also a few online gaming functions. Tribal casinos have been included in recent studies just as well and have certainly been a big deal over a period of time.

Big Numbers For the Gambling Industry

There are a number of big totals to look at with regards to how people are getting into the field quite well. The numbers which have been found in the AGA’s report include the following points:

• In 2013, casinos, game manufacturers and various other entities within the industry took in about $240 billion around the United States (casinos in this country here).
• About 1.7 million people were employed by all those within the field.
• Around $38 billion was paid in taxes by those entities. These include local, state and federal taxes. Various fees, income taxes and property debts were included in those expenses.

Those totals show how the field is vast and should continue to expand over time. But even with this in mind, there are still a number of worries that could come about.

Concerns Are Still Coming

Although the gambling industry is indeed very large and has been expanding in size, there are still worries within the field over how it is being managed. This especially comes as many casinos have been closing up while some places are struggling to be innovative and unique in some manner.

In particular, casinos are not getting as many of their revenues from gambling activities as they used to. MGM Resorts International particularly says how more than two-thirds of its revenues in its Las Vegas venues came from sources outside of gaming. These include revenues from dining spots, shows and retail sites.

In addition, some cities have struggled to keep their gaming activities visible. Atlantic City has especially dealt with a great number of problems. Four casinos in the city closed recently with nearly 10,000 people losing their jobs as a result. This could be chalked up to problems like the economy in the state of New Jersey struggling and Pennsylvania being more competitive in terms of opening gaming spots. But even with that, it has been rather concerning to the city which once had been a popular place for gaming.

It is certainly clear in how the gambling industry has been growing in size. The total amount of money being brought in has been growing. But even with the points here in mind, casinos will still have to look carefully at what can be done in the future in order to keep certain threats from being worse than they could be.