U.S. casino foot traffic in June 2025 held a steady pattern with a modest slump of 4.6 percent compared to the previous year, as reported by Jefferies Equity Research analyst David Katz. This figure comes against the backdrop of a significant 15.6 percent drop in visitation from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic’s impact.
U.S. Casino Foot Traffic Stability in Key Markets
Katz described June 2025 as the third best month of the year so far, highlighting stabilizing trends. He attributed the decline partly to June 2025 having one less Saturday than June 2024. Despite this, several large properties reported average gaming revenue growth. Overall, Katz maintains a positive outlook for regional gaming, with a particular focus on Boyd Gaming, citing potential growth and increased capital returns following the company’s recent sale of its 5% stake in FanDuel.
Katz highlighted growth in specific state markets. Pennsylvania saw a 2.5 percent increase in foot traffic, which is 22.2 percent higher than 2019 levels. Massachusetts also experienced a 7.5 percent rise.
U.S. Casino Foot Traffic Declines in Some Regions
In contrast, Atlantic City reported an 8.5 percent decline, down 19.5 percent from pre-pandemic times. Illinois also faced a 13.1 percent drop from 2019 and a further 2 percent decrease from 2024. Katz attributed this to the ongoing normalization post-COVID and competitive factors affecting certain locations. In Ohio, foot traffic barely dipped by 0.5 percent from June 2024 and only 1.1 percent from 2019.
Detroit recorded a 7.8 percent decline from the previous year and a substantial 33.5 percent fall since 2019. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, foot traffic fell by 4.2 percent from 2024, though a wave of new openings made comparisons with 2019 challenging. However, casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado, saw a 6.1 percent surge. Katz noted this was influenced by Monarch’s market entry in mid-2022, continuing to capture market share.
Growth Outlook for U.S. Casino Industry
Katz anticipated Caesars Entertainment to capitalize on regional strength, given that half of its cash flow originates outside Nevada. Additionally, new developments in Kentucky and Virginia are poised to benefit Churchill Downs, though initial results from The Rose Gaming Resort’s opening are described as moderately slow. Katz identified Penn Entertainment’s regional casinos as trailing behind larger gaming groups.
To accurately assess casino foot traffic recovery, Katz’s analysis utilized Placer data to track movement across various destinations and regional casinos nationwide. The methodology involved indexing the data to average daily visits for the respective casino or region during January 2020 and applying a smoothing multiplier for normalization.
