The American Gaming Association has reported that the total amount of local, state and federal taxes, paid for gambling activities for the year 2013, was equal to $38 billion.
Needless to say, that’s not the first time when the influence of the gaming industry on the US economy is investigated. According to the report, the results of which will be officially announced later today, all the elements of the gambling industry and their contribution during the last year were taken into consideration. Tribal casinos, gaming providers and even the online gaming activities have been included in the estimates.
Approximately $10 billion of the total $38 billion came from gambling while the remaining amount was formed from various taxes everyone, working in the gambling industry and every casino owner were supposed to pay.
However, the released data might not be absolutely accurate due to several reasons. The tribal casinos are unwilling to give details about their private income, which made the authorities use the information, available in the agreements between those casinos and the state executives and the reports received during the last year.
The amount of taxes, paid by players who won great sums of money also remained indefinite.
Oxford Economics was in charge of providing data that is as precise as possible and give the American Gaming Association an insight about the impact of the gaming industry on the United States’ economy in general. The conclusion was that more and more traders are eager to build casinos, located in areas, where the gambling industry is not well developed yet. This, respectively, makes the government experts hope for boosted annual revenue from taxes.
Geoff Freeman, the President of the US Gaming Association is about to give a press conference today. Meanwhile, the G2E conference will be held in Nevada.
Despite the optimistic forecasts of a number of experts, the attitude of some state experts is not too positive.
For instance, the Massachusetts’ residents are going to have an election and the results will determine whether the gambling industry in the state will continue to grow or not.
The closure of four Atlantic City-based casinos also had a negative impact on the economy as their bankruptcy left hundreds of people unemployed. According to Freeman, all these dramatic events are not likely to have an impact on the gambling industry from next year on.
In order to approve of his statement, Freeman mentioned the rapid development of the gambling industry in Maryland and Pennsylvania and added that the growing demand for high quality gambling experience in those two states was considered by many to be the reason for the closure of the New Jersey’s casinos because it stopped being regarded as a unique and attractive gambling venue. He also added that no industry, including gambling, could survive without diversified economy.
Adam Sack stated that the fierce competition is among the key reasons for the complicated situation the US gambling industry is in.
