The American Gaming Association (AGA) recently released a study that revealed US casino revenues fell dramatically in 2008, but they do admit there is hope for the land-based US gambling industry.

With information and figures gathered from commercial casinos in 12 US states, the outcome revealed gambling revenues dropped an average of 4.7% over the last year. The total annual revenue of $32.5 billion had fallen by almost $1.6 billion in 2008.

The economy has affected every industry including the gambling industry. Conclusions drawn from the study have indicated that the current global economic state of recession has affected gambling in casinos as much as it has other recreational industries. These “economic reasons” are largely to blame for the main cause of decreased leisure spending by many Americans in general.

In addition to the economies problems, there are other external factors such as the smoking bans that have been enacted in many US land-based casinos. Smoking bans have deterred many frequent gamblers from returning to local casinos, but a study put together by the American Gaming Association does indicate that there may be hope for the casino industry in the near future as the economy stabilizes more and more.

President of the AGA, Frank Fahrenkopf, states that the numbers had appeared to even out towards the end of 2008, and furthermore, he feels the worst is now in the past for troubled casinos. Additionally, some states that have new casino markets such as Pennsylvania-with their new racetrack casinos bringing gamblers in from neighboring states like hurting New Jersey’s Atlantic City, did report a rise in their yearly revenues.

The month of June brings hope though, with the World Series of Poker bringing bodies and business into Las Vegas, which is sure to increase revenue and profit overall for the 2009 reports.