Nevada Experiences 1st Gaming Revenue Drop in 8 Months

According to profit data released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) on April 25, gaming earnings collected by the state has seen a drop over the past month. In addition, the drop occurred for the 1st time in the last 8 months.

Decrease in gaming revenue:

Regardless of the revenue drop of 1.7% across the state, a 1.2% decline in the Strip and a decline of 1.6% in Clark County, the overall revenue for the first quarter of the ongoing year and 3 quarters of the FY, saw growth compared to the levels of former years. However, during January, The Strip and Clark County also saw a small drop in income.

Commenting on the issue, Senior Economic Analyst at the NGCB Michael Lawton commented that March could be somewhat discouraging given the number of events that involve the return of NASCAR to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and concert performances by Carrie Underwood, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. Nonetheless, March is still being compared to the record-breaking total income collected from slot machines during March of the previous year.

Although the days of March were filled with widely-known events, the whole month might not have been as eventful as the situation in March 2023, when the NCAA basketball tournament had its regional matchups at T-Mobile Arena, the massive ConExpo-Con/Ag construction equipment trade show that was in town, and when Taylor Swift held 2 shows at Allegiant Stadium.

A total of 444 licensed large casinos in Nevada earned $1.29bln from players. As for the 61 casinos located on The Strip, they managed to win $715.9m, and a total of 220 casinos located in Clark County earned $1.132bln.

More than half of the state’s sub-markets showed a decline in revenue in March:

Relatedly, twenty sub-markets were supervised by the NGCB, and more than half of them, 12, experienced a decrease in March. However, the single sub-market with the biggest decline was downtown Las Vegas, which saw a decrease of 12.9% to $76.2m.

The top performers were Washoe County and Wendover, which each saw income growth of 7%.

Although betting on March Madness dominated sports wagering last month, the state’s bookmakers took in $29.8m, a decline of 32.1% from 2023, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Punters had better luck with their sports wagers as the casino retention percentage was 3.79% from 5.28% which was the case in 2023. Those who place wagers managed to bet 5.5% less compared to the previous year, aka $784.4m, and the sum wagered via mobile betting fell by 4.6% to $507m.

Then the game of Baccarat, was a good source of income for the casinos, as they had better luck compared to the players. Also, casinos managed to earn $114.7m, an increase of 75.5% compared to the results from last year, due to a retention percentage of 18.81% this current year compared to 10.33% in 2023.

As for gaming taxes, they remain on track to the overall sum of over $1bln for Nevada’s general fund in the ongoing FY. Following 9 months of accumulation, Nevada managed to generate $841.5m, an increase of 2.4% compared to the 2022-23 FY.