Nevada Casino Revenue Down 2% to $1BN in January

Nevada’s casino market generated revenues of $1.015 billion in January, representing a 2.05% fall compared to the $1.03 billion taken in the same month in 2017. The Silver State subsequently received $68.6 million by way of gambling taxes, down by 8.74% versus the $75.2 million collected a year earlier.
Despite the drop, the news was viewed positively as January’s tally was the first time that the state had produced a 10-digit month since January 2017. In fact, it was just the 36th time that the industry had ever surpassed the $1 billion mark since first doing so in March 2005, with the highest monthly amount ever recorded peaking at $1.165 billion back in October 2007.
A number of factors contributed to Nevada’s casino numbers falling below last year’s tally, including January having one less weekend day than in 2017, as well as New Year’s Day last year falling on a Sunday, with the holiday period then extending into the Monday. The overall result meant that revenue for January 2017 was higher by 12% from a year earlier, thus making for a very difficult comparison in 2018.
Further affecting January’s performance was a fourth consecutive monthly loss for the Las Vegas Strip since the mass shooting incident that occurred on October 1. This time around, the Strip saw its revenue decrease by 8.89% to $554.7 million from last January’s total of $608.9 million. While slot machine revenue was up by 3.3% to $655.5 million, accounting for much of the loss was its table game segment which fell by 10.5 percent to $359.5 million in January, including baccarat plummeting by a massive 28% year-on-year.
More worryingly, though, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported that the number of people visiting Sin City fell by 3.3% in January, extending an eight month losing streak. Construction and renovation developments currently taking place in Las Vegas added to the downward trend, with 2,000 fewer rooms having been available in January.
Elsewhere, downtown Las Vegas saw its gaming revenue increase by 1.6% to $56.5 million in January, marking four straight month of gains since October, while Washoe County collected $60.72 million, higher by 11.1% compared to the same month in 2017.