Smooth Sailing for US Online Casinos With $507M GGR in July

The US online casino industry has been holding its course in the summer of 2023.

Photo by Shutterstock/Tomas Nevesely

The US online casino industry has settled into a period of stability, with gross revenue across all states totaling $506.6 million for July, almost unchanged from June. Taken as a daily average, that represents a 3.7% drop due to the extra day in July. However, midsummer is typically the slowest period for gambling sites, and revenue should begin increasing again as fall arrives.

Although 2023 started slowly, the industry has been converging on the trend forecast by Bonus¹. Though the year-to-date total still trails 1.6% behind that projection, that margin has been shrinking. Full-year revenue may still reach the original $6.5 billion prediction and should be no less than $6.3 billion, barring a sudden change in the market.

With even Connecticut now in its second year, no US online casino markets are experiencing post-launch volatility. In particular, the large, mature markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan are becoming very predictable.

That’s not to say that the market is stagnant. Year-over-year revenue growth for the total market was 21.4% for July and has remained north of 20% throughout the year. However, it’s not as volatile as it once was. Except for March and June, which were slightly better, the growth rate hasn’t strayed much outside 21% to 22%. That said, Bonus expects it to slow somewhat in the final quarter of the year, producing a full-year growth rate of around 21%.

It isn’t only the size of the market that’s in a steady pattern. Operators’ market share has also proven stable, even as some are scaling back their marketing expenses. DraftKings Casino, for instance, has slashed its promotions in Connecticut by over 80% since last year. Yet it has only surrendered about two percentage points of market share to Mohegan Casino since the final quarter of 2022 and still holds the larger share of revenue in the duopoly.

An Established Hierarchy in Michigan

Operator rankings for Michigan from July 2022 to July 2023

Michigan provides the clearest example of how hard operators are finding it to jockey for position. Because its laws allow only one brand per license, we can see exactly what share of revenue each operator holds.

There was significant movement over the first 18 months of the market. Some operators took several months to launch and needed to play catch-up. Meanwhile, Caesars took over the William Hill brand in August 2020 and increased its casino market share nearly tenfold over a few months.

Since July 2022, however, almost nothing has changed in terms of the hierarchy of Michigan online casino brands. Most operators found themselves in exactly the same spot in July 2023. The only exceptions are three pairs of brands that switched places:

FanDuel claimed the #2 spot from DraftKings.
Golden Nugget snagged #5 from Caesars.
WynnBet displaced Barstool to become #7.

Moreover, all these pairs began with very similar shares of the market and remain in close competition. Any of them could easily switch back in any given month, with the caveat that Barstool Casino’s upcoming rebrand to Hollywood could change things, and WynnBet’s future in the market is uncertain.

DraftKings, FanDuel Slowly Gaining Ground on BetMGM

That said, there is a gradual shift in the market composition that will take some time to reflect itself in the hierarchy. DraftKings and FanDuel have gradually been increasing their combined market share despite remaining in close competition with one another.

In July 2022, the combined share for the two former daily fantasy giants was 29.7%. At the time, BetMGM Casino was the undisputed market leader with 37.9% on its own, more than both put together. That left 32.4% for the rest of the market.

Now, DraftKings and FanDuel have a combined 38.4%. BetMGM has fallen to 31.9%, while the remaining 12 operators now have 29.7%.

Even at the current pace of change, BetMGM is likely to hold the lead until 2025. However, it no longer looks unassailable, which is reflected in some recent comments by MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle, who told investors that the brand is “not where we want it to be.”

Pennsylvania online gambling sites won $157.1 million in July 2023, up 27.5% year-over-year. Market growth has slowed slightly from 30.1% in June.
The daily average revenue was $5.1 million, down 7.5% from June.
Pennsylvania’s July performance came up 1.3% behind the Bonus projection of $159.2 million in revenue.
Pennsylvania’s year-to-date iGaming GGR is now $1.16 billion, 2.0% lower than the Bonus forecast.
Revenue from slots fell by a much larger margin than table games, down 9.3% vs. 1.6%. Meanwhile, poker revenue rose 5.2%.
Unibet’s daily average revenue dropped by more than half since June. This is likely the result of a large slots jackpot hitting, and we should see revenue return to normal in August.

Michigan online gambling sites won $153.6 million in July 2023, up 21.3% year-over-year. Like Pennsylvania, its growth has slowed since June, when it was 24.3%.
The daily average revenue was just under $5.0 million, down 1.6% from June.
Michigan’s year-to-date total iGaming GGR is now $1.12 billion, 2.5% lower than the Bonus forecast.
Newcomer SI Casino hasn’t made the splash it had hoped. Its market share peaked at 1.2% in March (its first full month) but has dwindled steadily since then to just 0.8% in July.

New Jersey online gambling sites won $155.2 million in July 2023, up 13.5% year-over-year. Of the Big Three states, it was the only one to see its growth accelerate, from 12.1% in June.
The daily average revenue was just a hair over $5.0 million, pulling ahead of Michigan again. As a daily average, it’s an increase of 0.6% relative to June. However, Bonus forecasted more of a July bump for New Jersey, so its performance was 2.7% below the projection.
New Jersey’s year-to-date total iGaming GGR is now $1.10 billion, almost identical to Michigan’s despite New Jersey’s smaller population and only 1.4% lower than the Bonus forecast.
Resorts had a big month, with daily average revenue for its license up 10.2% from June. That puts it ahead of Golden Nugget as the number two license in the state.

Connecticut online casinos won $28.2 million in July 2023. Though still the fastest-growing market in the US, it has slowed from a 50.5% annual growth rate in June to 35.5% in July.
The daily average revenue dropped to just over $900,000, a steep drop of 13.6% from June.
Connecticut had been performing well above the Bonus forecast, so the decline puts it back in line with the projection. July revenue came up 0.6% shy of expectations, the first time since January that it was below the forecast.
Connecticut’s year-to-date total iGaming GGR is now $218.3 million, 6.6% higher than the forecast to this point.
Mohegan Casino dialed back its marketing a little in July, and DraftKings expanded its market share to 54.9% from 53.2%.

West Virginia

West Virginia online casinos won $11.4 million in July 2023, up 29.0% year-over-year. Although the still faster than any state except Connecticut, it’s the slowest growth rate in West Virginia’s history.
The daily average revenue was just under $370,000, down 8.1% from June. It’s the second time this year the Mountain State has significantly underperformed relative to the Bonus forecast, 14.4% below the projection.
West Virginia’s year-to-date iGaming GGR is now $93.1 million, 6.3% below the forecast.
WynnBet, so far operating alone on the Mardi Gras license, has managed to claim a 5.7% market share in its first full month of operations, a little more than what it holds in Michigan.

Delaware

Delaware’s lottery monopoly generated $1.2 million in revenue from its three online casino brands in July 2023. That’s an annual increase of drop of 5.7%. No other state has ever experienced a negative annual growth rate.
The daily average revenue was $38,000, virtually unchanged since June, with a drop of just 0.2%.
Delaware is 12.0% behind the year-to-date Bonus projection. However, it will change technology providers this fall, and perhaps improvements to the product will provide a boost.

State	GGR - July 2023	Monthly Change	Annual Change
Pennsylvania	$157,094,875	-7.5%	+27.5%
New Jersey	$155,165,055	+0.6%	+13.5%
Michigan	$153,585,512	-1.6%	+21.3%
Connecticut	$28,194,624	-13.6%	+35.5%
West Virginia	$11,421,618	-8.1%	+29.0%
Delaware	$1,181,688	-0.2%	-5.7%
US Total	$506,643,371	-3.7%	+21.4%

Notes on the Data

Raw data for this article comes from reports issued by the state regulators: the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Michigan Gaming Control Board, West Virginia Lottery, Delaware Lottery, and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
2023 online gambling revenue projections are original calculations performed by News Managing Editor Alex Weldon on behalf of Bonus. Please cite Bonus and Alex Weldon if reporting projected numbers or market performance compared to the projections.
Monthly growth figures are adjusted for the number of days in the month. That is, they represent the change in daily average revenue, not full-month gross revenue.
West Virginia reports revenue weekly, not monthly. Its monthly totals are an estimate, assuming that revenue for partial weeks is distributed evenly between the seven days.
Pennsylvania only reports adjusted revenue (gross revenue, less promotional spending). Bonus calculates gross slots revenue by subtracting payouts from coin in, but no such data is available for table games and poker. Therefore, actual gross revenue is probably somewhat higher than what we report.

About the Author

Alex Weldon

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Alex Weldon is an online gambling industry analyst with nearly ten years of experience. He currently serves as Casino News Managing Editor for Bonus.com, part of the Catena Media Network. Other gambling news sites he has contributed to include PlayUSA and Online Poker Report, and his writing has been cited in The Atlantic.