The US gaming industry had an economic impact of $240 billion in 2013, as much as the combined budgets of New York and Texas, according to an industry study.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) released a report at Global Gaming Expo which studied sales at commercial casinos, Native American casinos, gaming equipment makers and spending by casino customers at local businesses.
The report said casino businesses generated $81 billion in revenue, while gaming equipment manufacturers contributed almost $6 billion.
The remainder came from customer spending in communities where casinos are located, in local restaurants, shops, transportation and accommodations.
The study estimated $38 billion in tax revenues were generated from gaming.
The casino industry supported over 1.7 million jobs with 734,000 directly employed by gaming companies, the study claimed.
"You can just imagine what would happen if the gaming industry disappeared in Las Vegas and all the employees of these casinos no longer had jobs and no longer had incomes," said Adam Sacks of Oxford Economics, the firm which produced the study on behalf of the AGA.
