US online casinos slow start to 2022

Looking at gross gambling figures in for February 2022, it seems a little steam has come out of the US online casino market.

Of the significant state markets, only Michigan recorded an increase over January (or December 2021).

It could be a sign these markets are approaching maturity. The slowdown could also be a symptom of a return to normality after periods of pandemic induced lockdown. It could also simply be indicative of a slightly shorter data period.

Then and again, as the saying goes: one month does not a trend make.

New Jersey’s online casino recorded GGR of $130 million for February. A significant drop on January’s $137.8. Open since 2013, this is America’s most mature large market. It may be seeing an end to an almost decade long period of strong growth.

Pennsylvania dropped under the $100 million mark, with net casinos there taking $99.5 million. This is significantly down on January’s $108.3 million, and even less than May 2021’s figure of $101.3 million.

Of the big 3, Michigan was the only state to buck the trend, albeit marginally. February’s $122.8 million came in just ahead of January’s $121.2 million, and December 2021’s $121.8 million. The Michigan market is still young, operating for just over a year now so further growth would be expected.

Almost bucking the downward trend was West Virginia. This very small market recorded an increase from January ($6.8 million) to February ($8 million ). But February was still well down on December 2021 at $8.7 million.

Connecticut is the new kid on the block. They are only in their fourth full month of operation, with only 2 locally licensed operators presently. It is interesting to see that even though this is a market very much in its infancy, February was down compared with January and only marginally better than December 2021 which was only its second full month of operation.

As for Delaware, they cracked the $1 million mark for the first time in December last year and carried this momentum into January. It may be some months before they get there again.