Nevada Casino Revenue Up 1.19% to $886.5M in April

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released its latest casino results for April, revealing a slight 1.19% improvement in revenue to $886.5 million, or around $10.4 million higher than the same amount generated in April of 2016. While the small growth rate pales in comparison to the 7.45% recorded the previous month, the numbers were brought down by an unfavorable comparison with April 2016, which was a busy month in which the T-Mobile Arena opened for business, and hosted numerous big concerts, as well as the Manny Pacquiao versus Timothy Bradley fight.
Nevertheless, April’s performance still adds to a positive year so far in which revenue has now risen in three out of four months, and commenting on the news, Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Tax and License Division, explained that “revenue is trending up as calendar year to date we are up 3.9 percent statewide and for the fiscal year we are up 3 percent.”
Last month, the Las Vegas Strip, which typically accounts for around half of Nevada’s monthly gambling revenue, saw its business fall by 3.25% to $475.4 million, with much of the decline attributed to a decrease in baccarat hold which fell from 18.1% to 13.1% year-on-year.
Elsewhere across the Silver State, Downtown saw its gambling revenue soar by 21.9% to $52.3 million, helped in no small part by the opening of the Lucky Dragon casino which opened its doors for business in November 2016. In the meantime, Reno posted a 4.8% drop in revenue to $47.7 million, with the whole of Washoe County was down by 4.66% overall; South Lake Tahoe was up 4.55%; Elko County was higher by 4.5%; and Carson Valley noted a 6.06% increase in its revenue.
As a result, Nevada received $44.24 million by way of gambling taxes and fees, representing a 0.26% improvement on the $44.12 million collected over the same period in 2016.
Finally, Nevada attracted 3.545 million visitors in April, a figure unchanged from the previous year, with the next couple of months sure to see an escalation in numbers as the 2017 WSOP gets underway at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino.