The Victorian regulator has released its latest round of annual gaming figures for the state’s venues, demonstrating the effects of the pandemic shutdown.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) publishes the annual gaming expenditure data for the previous financial year each July, outlining total gaming expenditure and venue information, including classification and machine numbers.
Unlike NSW, hotels dominate the rankings, with clubs and pubs allowed to have the same number of machines.
FY20 saw hotels claim 45 of the top 50 positions, and all of the top 10. In revenue per machine, hotels take 48 of the top 50 as well as the top 10.
The average revenue per week in the top-10 performers was $2,822 in 2020, while the average across all 26,412 machines in Victoria was $1,447.
The figures show a 26.2 per cent downturn on FY19 tallies, but Victorian gaming venues were closed due to COVID-19 for 99 days of the past financial year. Adjusting for that, FY20 was on track prior to the shutdown for growth of 1.1 per cent.
FY19 saw almost no growth in the industry, coming in at 0.1 per cent, counterbalancing the 3.3 per cent experienced in FY18.
