In the first "comprehensive report on the gaming industry’s national economic impact" in four years, the American Gaming Association has shown that the business in the US employs nearly two million Americans and contributes $261bn to the US economy.
The study, conducted by Oxford Economics, reports that the contribution to the economy is up 9.5 per cent in the four years since the last study. The tax revenue from that total came to $40.8bn, shared between federal, state and local governments.
Other interesting statistics from the study show that the US-based manufacturers of the equipment going into the gaming industry actually employed eight per cent more people than in 2014, reaching over 17,000.
Inflation in the US in the four years totaled five per cent, but that is outstripped by the gambling industry’s direct labour income at gaming manufacturers, 8.4 per cent or $1.1bn.
Oxford Economics was commissioned by the AGA to produce the study. It did so by analysing industry information from a variety of sources to compare with its own estimates for 2014. This included a survey of national casino operators and data from secondary sources, notably from federal, state and private channels.
The study includes analysis of casinos, both commercial and Native Indian venues, from manufacturers and from the ancillary spending by players visiting their locations.
Direct spend in US gaming locations was $109bn of which $89.4bn came from casinos, $13.3bn from ancillary spend and $6.3bn in purchases of equipment from gaming manufacturers. Of the $89.4bn spent in casinos, $55.7bn was at commercial venues and $33.7bn at Indian casinos. The total includes 82 per cent spend on gaming, 18 per cent on non-gaming and the figure for ancillary spending was by casino patrons at other businesses during their casino trips, such as restaurants and retail stores.
Employment in the industry totaled 727,000 workers who received $33.3bn in wages, including tips and other benefits; of them 559,000 jobs were on-site at casinos and operators’ offices, while 17,000 were from factories and sales outlets. Just over 150,000 of the employees were at businesses offering goods and services to casino patrons.
Employment at commercial casinos totaled 361,000 earning $17.4bn in wages while at Native Indian casinos 198,000 people earned $9.1bn.
The impact on the US economy was illustrated by comparisons. The gaming business supported more direct jobs than the plastics manufacturing industry, for example, or motion pictures and sound recording. The direct employment in the sector at 727,000 was enough to fill the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys football team for every home game in a season, or as many people as work in the District of Columbia.
The tax impact per US household was $343, offsetting the federal, state and local taxes of every household in the country.
Sara Slane, senior vice-president of public affairs at the AGA, said: “Gaming companies across the US are enabling long-lasting careers for their employees and making a huge impact on their communities through innovative partnerships with local non-profits, volunteerism and the generation of revenue that supports critical services.”
