Nevada Casino Revenue Falls A Further 3.2% In January

January saw Nevada casinos collect $883.3 million in revenue, which represented a decline of 3.2% over the Jan 2009 figure of $912.7 million.
Despite now only having shown one increase in revenue over the past 23 months, the results were generally  given a positive spin by the state Gaming Control Board, who believed the drop in revenue was less than they were expecting.
Commenting on the results, Control Board Tax and License Division Chief Frank Streshley said: “Going into the month, we were expecting a bigger decline,” and he then described January as a “very soft month” with revenue results “well above expectations.”
Frank Streshley highlighted further cause for optimism after highlighting that January’s fall in revenue of 3.2% was the same as for the previous month, indicating that the decline in Nevada’s gaming industry may finally be levelling off and could soon be on the way to recovery.
There was also some more bright news for Nevada, whose state’s budget has been badly affected by the slump in its gaming industry. They saw their gaming tax collections rise 27% from $33.4 million in December to $60 million in February based on the January win. However, the increase in gaming tax collections was partly attributed to credit markers collected by the casinos during the month.
All told, the Las Vegas Strip collected $495 million in gaming revenue, down 3% from a year earlier, while Clark County gaming revenues declined by 2.2%. Also posting declines in revenue were South Shore down -9.77%, North Shore down -11.33%, Washoe County down -8.68%, and Reno down -8.82%.
Gaming revenues have continued to decline steadily in Nevada since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks dealt a heavy blow to the states tourist industry, which was further compounded by the continuing global economic downturn which started in 2007.