Nevada Casino Revenue Down 1.7% to $998M in July

Nevada’s casino market generated revenue of $998 million in July, representing a 1.7% fall compared to the same month in 2016, with earnings on the Las Vegas Strip dropping by 7.7% to $565.6 million. Accounting for much of the decline was lower baccarat winnings, as well as a tough year-over-year comparison versus the more than $1 billion collected last year.
The state subsequently received $69.1 million in gambling taxes in July, marking a 1.1% rise from a year earlier, and commenting upon the overall figures, Michael Lawton, Senior Research Analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, stated:
“We were facing a pretty difficult comparison. The state was up 10.1 percent last July, and the Strip was up 16.8 percent. So for us to come in very close to $1 billion and only being down 1.7 percent, I don’t think we can be too disappointed about those results.”
In July, baccarat winnings were off by 18.3% on the Strip, and by 19.6% to $120.9 million overall for the whole state, while blackjack was also down by 12.3% to $100 million. Nevertheless, apart from the Strip’s revenue contraction, and that of South Lake Tahoe, down by 14.8%, the rest of the state actually reported year-on-year gains.
Amongst those markets posting revenue growth in July was Downtown Las Vegas up by 16.8% to $23.7 million; and Clark County casinos situated along the Boulder Highway, up by 19.3% to $66.4 million.
So far this year, Nevada’s casino revenue is currently higher by 2.6%, and furthermore more positive results are expected for August and September, due in no small part to the money boxing match of the decade which took place last weekend between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. In addition, the upcoming middleweight unification fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is also expected to attract huge interest, and as Lawton explains:
“We have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of months.”