Nevada Casino Revenue Falls A Further 5.7% In April

In April, Nevada casinos took in $810.5 million, representing a 5.7% decline in revenue compared to the same period last year.
There was hope that February’s 13% jump in revenue represented the long awaited rebound in Nevada’s gaming industry, but a 0.66% fall in revenue for March, and now April’s figures would seem to indicate that Nevada is still languishing in the doldrums.
Overall, the state’s table game wagers were down 1.1% to $254.3 million while slots winnings had fallen 8.5% to $545.6 million resulting in a 23.4% decrease in taxes collected by Nevada to $39.7 million, compared to April last year.
However, it was not all bad news as the Las Vegas Strip, the main mecca for Nevada’s gaming industry, actually took $437.3 million, which accounted for 54% of the state’s gaming revenue and was less than 1% off 2009’s revenue figure.
Commenting on the results, Frank Streshley, Chief of the Control Board’s Tax and License Division, said:
“We’re starting to see a little bit of a rebound on the Strip, but historically, Nevada lags behind the overall national economy. Also, the locals market seems to lag behind the Strip. So once the Strip recovery is more steady, we may see a pick up in the locals market.”
All told, the Las Vegas Strip collected $437.3 million in gaming revenue, down under 1% from a year earlier, Boulder Strip casinos were down 25.5%, North Las Vegas casinos fell almost 12%, while Clark County casinos declined almost 13%. In fact, only Carson Valley, Mesquite and Wendover in Elko County actually posted an increase in revenue.
Despite the figures, Nevada has now posted a 0.9% increase in its revenue for the first four months of 2010, with the Strip up 7.2% during that period. Las Veagas has suffered greatly from competition from Macau after it took over Vegas’s mantle as ‘the gaming capital of the world.’ Cautioning about reading too much into the Strips revenue rise, Dennis Farrell, an analyst from Well Fargo Securities gaming, said:
“Despite the Strip’s relatively stable revenue results, we remain cautious, as we believe Las Vegas Strip operators will continue to face a challenging environment.”