Another Triumphant Year For Nevada’s Gaming Industry

As December draws to a close, Nevada casinos have already gained in gaming profit what was lost in record performance from 2021. However, December’s gaming profit has yet to be analyzed and reported.

Increased gaming profit compared to the previous year:

The 459 legal, or licensed casinos in Nevada publicly announced a gaming winnings profit of $13.5 billion, which is 10.2% more compared to the first 11 months of last year.

In 2021, Nevada casinos, which then owned 463 licensees, had a total gaming profit of $13.4 billion.

Many Nevada cities are below the required gaming winnings levels:

However, the November report still contained bad news, making it a classic good news-bad news report.

The good news is that the Nevada Gaming Control Board publicly announced on Thursday, December 29, that new gaming winnings topped $1 billion for the 21st month in a row.

But the bad news is that 17 of the 20 regulated iGaming markets observed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board were below November 2021 in gaming winnings levels.

Of all the markets, only Sparks, South Lake Tahoe and Wendover showed growth in gaming profit levels over last year.

On that note, Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior economic analyst who analyzes the game numbers, said in an email: “There’s a good reason for numbers to be down from a year ago – November 2021 win totals were the third highest on record for the state and the Strip.

“November of 2021 represented a very difficult comparison for the state and the Strip with $1.3 billion and $755.1 million in total win respectively. But through the first 11 months of the calendar year, every major market in the state is up calendar-year-to-date through November.”

The problem of maintaining gaming profit levels:

Lawton also warned against “tough comparison possibilities earlier this year when the state hit 12 consecutive months of win in excess of $1 billion.”

But, he emphasized ” that it would be hard to sustain growth when so many months were at record or near-record levels.”

Clark County reaches record levels in 2022 gaming profit:

But the state, which has allowed Clark County and Las Vegas to lure customers to casinos with fancy entertainment and sporting events, has continued to set a high bar to attract customers who come to casinos and put a few bucks on slots and table games.

In this regard, Lawton quoted November’s events that drew large crowds, such as: Elton John performing at Allegian Stadium on November 1st, The Who playing at Park MGM on November 4th and 5th and T-Mobile Arena as host of the Post Malone concert on November 11th. Additionally, Adele held the grand opening of her Strip residency at Caesars palace on November 18th, Kevin Hart played two shows at Resorts World Las Vegas on November 18th and 19th and the Las Vegas Raiders had only one home game in November against the Indianapolis Colts in November 13th.

Also, Las Vegas hosted one of its successful 2022 convention events in November, the Specialty Equipment Market Association’s Automotive Aftermarket Week gatherings at few convention centers.

Due to Nevada’s reliance on Clark County, while gaming profit levels across Nevada were down 7,6%, Clark County gaming profit levels were up 8.4% to $1.06 billion compared to November 2021. However, the Strip remained down 11,3% to $669.5 million from November 2021, but the Las Vegas center changed 0,1% from last year to $82.8 million, after posting record of $90.5 million in October 2022.

The Nevada gaming profit levels in 2022 are 87% because of Clark County alone.

In this regard, Mr Lawton said: “Game and table win on the Strip was the primary reason for this month’s decrease with a 27 percent decline and volumes that decreased 23 percent.”

Slots increase gaming winnings levels:

It has been reported that across the state slots and table games such as blackjack, baccarat and sports betting have made significant changes in gaming profit levels.

Slots earnings of $871.1 million grew 1,3% from November 2021, with the coinage up 1,9% to $11.6 billion.

On the other side, table game winnings of $349.8 million were reduced 24,2% and losses (table money stakes) were decreased 17,7% to $2.8 billion. Blackjack winnings are reduced 23.1 percent and volume is down 18%.

Baccarat, otherwise one of the most popular games, won $58.7 million, which is 37,7% less than last year. Its drop was down 31,3% from a year ago to $507.8 million. Furthermore, players fared better in November this year with a casino hold percentage of 11,6% compared to 12,8% a year ago.

As for the sportsbook, its profit was $37.7 million, down 47,7% with a retention rate of 4,1% this year compared to 6,6% a year ago. However, the sportsbook win of $1.1 billion in November 2021 was the second biggest win in 2021 report!

Sports betting using mobile apps was valued at $642.5 million, which decreased 17,3% from a year ago and was responsible for 69,2% of all sports betting.

In a report to investors, Joseph Greff, game industry analyst at New York-based J.P. Morgan, said: “Gross gaming revenue levels in November were well above those in pre-pandemic 2019.

“Strip win was 29 percent ahead of 2019, locals play was 39 percent better than in that year and statewide it was up 30 percent from three years ago.”