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Slot machines tracked worldwide through the EILERS-FANTINI Game Performance Database
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Annual research reports published by EKG
Independent gaming industry research, since 2012
EKG operates across proprietary first-party data, syndicated research, product testing, and senior-partner advisory: serving operators, suppliers, regulators, and investors.
The EILERS-FANTINI Game Performance Database (GPD) and Online Game Performance Database (OGPD): first-party operator benchmarking across land-based and online game slot performance. The industry's largest slot performance database, tracking ~700,000 machines worldwide.
Syndicated coverage spanning gaming equipment & technology, online sports betting, online casino, social and mobile gaming, lotteries, prediction markets, and emerging digital categories.
Proprietary app testing methodology refined over six years, with a nationwide consumer tester panel. Operators adjust product roadmaps in response to EKG scores.
Independent commercial due diligence, market sizing, and strategy for investors, operators, and suppliers. Powered by the same proprietary data behind our research.
In this 50-page report, exclusively available to Enterprise Tier subscribers, we use our proprietary methodology and nationwide testing group to test, score, and rank the performance of U.S. casino apps. In our latest round of testing—conducted across the core markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan late in 1H26—DraftKings retained their top ranking while Hard Rock Bet jumped to #2, their first top-5 finish ever. FanDuel and Fanatics maintain their third and fourth place rankings, respectively, while Golden Nugget slipped to fifth.
In 2Q26, total U.S. lottery sales increased +1% y/y and +1% q/q to $26.4 billion across the 46 U.S. jurisdictions we track in our report. Instant Tickets sales increased +1% y/y and +1% q/q to $19.0 billion with growth driven by iLottery sales. Retail Instant Ticket sales declined -1% y/y but increased +1% q/q, which was modestly ahead of the average trend of relative stable sales q/q in 2Q. Draw game wagers increased by +1% y/y and +2% q/q to $7.4 billion. See the report for results and commentary for the full year as well as analysis by main product type and our CY26 forecast.
The July edition of our U.S. Online Casino Monitor is now live, with data current through June 2026. U.S. iCasino growth remains healthy but continues to normalize. Nationwide GGR increased +20% y/y in June, ahead of the recent T3M rate of +17% but still below T12M growth of +22%. June’s reacceleration therefore does not materially change the broader moderation trend, while Pennsylvania data continue to show slots carrying market expansion as tables soften. A central focus this month is the realized iCasino impact of the World Cup. GGR growth accelerated modestly versus the pre-tournament trend, with DraftKings showing the clearest directional over-index and BetMGM posting a smaller positive read-through. Most other sportsbook-led brands held trend or decelerated, suggesting customer-friendly sports results did not translate into a broad same-month recycling surge. The outcome also reinforces our view that operators generally stopped short of treating the World Cup as a major iCasino promotional event. We also examine widening operator dispersion through the lens of early 2Q26 earnings. RSI materially outpaced EKG’s estimated +17% U.S. iCasino GGR comp, while Caesars and BetMGM trailed despite constructive underlying company KPIs. At the same time, the policy dynamics are shifting: tax-increase risk has receded for now, while Pennsylvania-led regulatory reform—including potential deposit, advertising and VIP restrictions—has become the more consequential near-term watch item. Also inside: FanDuel and DraftKings earnings setup: FanDuel est. 2Q26 iCasino GGR +12% and DraftKings +2%—both below-market Continued evidence that weaker OSB economics may be creating headwinds for traditional sportsbook-to-iCasino cross-sell Game performance spotlight: Huff N Even More Puff Grand narrows Cash Eruption’s GGR-share lead to just 2bps
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