30-second summary

• A new report?shows that the casino gaming equipment market could surpass $22bn by 2020
• This is largely due to higher levels of disposable income and new laws allowing more casino facilities
• The main drivers of this growth appear to be video poker and slot machines

Details of new report

A new report on the casino gaming equipment market estimates that this sector could bypass the $22.5bn (￡16.9bn) mark in total value by 2020.

Gambling expansion is happening all across the world. Casinos are becoming legal in many significant markets, such as Japan, where three massive resort casinos will be under development in the near future.

A lot of states in the US that were previously conservative with their approach to gambling are now changing their laws to allow sports betting and online gambling. Other countries are ending state monopolies on gambling, which will lead to new competitors who will need this new equipment.

Casino gaming equipment is defined as machinery that is vital to gambling and playing games at casinos. In 2016, the industry was worth only $5.2bn (￡3.9bn).

Many casinos across the world are seeing increasing levels of demand for many reasons. One of the reasons is that people have more disposable income because of strongly performing economies around the globe.

Growing levels of employment in developing countries is another driving force. Other nations are looking at ways to boost their tourism levels, with casinos being a major draw in many cases.

Key talking points

To stand out from their competitors, casinos are regularly looking to update their equipment and implement the latest in technology. There have been many groundbreaking innovations in the gaming equipment sector in recent years, which has driven a lot of this success.

Naturally, online gambling does have an effect on the sales of gaming equipment. As online gambling is being embraced in different regions, more and more people will prefer to stay at home and gamble there instead. Therefore, the casino equipment sector will eventually hit a ceiling.

This does not mean that significant growth will not be seen in this sector in the next couple of years. Video poker and slot machines, in particular, are the areas highlighted in this report as being key drivers of growth.

The report also highlights the Asia-Pacific and North America markets as those which will see the most growth in revenue. This make sense as gambling laws in the United States and across Asia are constantly expanding.

US expansion

New states in the US are legalizing casinos or looking to do so. For example, three resort casino licenses have been made available in Massachusetts.

One of these licenses went to the MGM Springfield, which has been open since 2018. The Encore Boston Harbor Casino is currently under development. However, there is an ongoing scandal involving the founder and former CEO of Wynn Resorts. The company did not disclose this matter to the gaming commission in the state before getting the license and the license could be taken away following a hearing.

Finally, there is another ongoing dispute revolving around the third and final available license. This involves a dispute involving a tribe’s ability to locate a casino on a particular piece of land, which is under contention.