Overall brick/mortar growth for properties (especially regional properties) open a year or longer has been slightly up compared to the prior year:
- As compared to last year, this month’s calendar showed losing a Tuesday and gaining a Friday which would result in an expected (+1% to +2%) calendar change to last year.
- October 2025 shows all GGR changing (+7%) to last year, thus it is well above calendar expectations.
- For states without expansion, the rate (+3%), is also slightly above the calendar’s expectations.
Some issues to keep in mind, especially for those states showing above the mean growth:
- AR added new casino property and included sports betting in the gaming tax figures.
- KY and VA have both opened in 2018-2019 for HHR games. Their growth, while extraordinarily strong, is at least as much due to new facilities and additional facilities/games continually being added.
- IL and VA continues to add new commercial gaming in 2023/2024/2025.
- In late 2022, Nebraska (NE) opened commercial gaming and is adding more properties in 2024/2025.
- NH added/continues to add HHR games.
- DE reports sports/igaming in their monthly results subsequently we believe their year-to-year results to be distorted upward.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY JAY SARNO IN THE WINTER 2025 EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.