Nevada casinos generated $1.282 billion in gaming win in September, down 0.05% from a year earlier, as modest growth on the Las Vegas Strip was offset by declines in downtown Las Vegas, Laughlin and other markets, according to state gaming regulators.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that September marked the 67th consecutive month in which statewide gaming win exceeded $1 billion. The total was also 21.2% higher than in September 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Las Vegas Strip, Nevada’s largest gambling market, recorded gaming win of $693.5 million, up about 0.8% year over year. Clark County overall declined by less than 1% to $1.09 billion, while downtown Las Vegas gaming win fell 7.5% to about $82.5 million.
Laughlin recorded one of the steepest declines, with gaming win dropping 16.8% to $33.8 million. North Las Vegas rose 9.2% to $25.1 million, while the Boulder Strip remained nearly flat at $83.2 million.
Citizens analyst Jordan Bender said the Strip’s gaming win was “slightly below our expectations.”
“The underperformance stemmed from mass table revenue declining 5% year-over-year, despite an easy comparison in the prior year, following a 19% decline in August,” Bender wrote in a research note.
Bender said companies had discussed softer trends across the Las Vegas Valley in August and September during meetings at Global Gaming Expo and Boyd Gaming’s earnings call, suggesting that the strength seen during the summer months may have been temporary.
Las Vegas visitor volume increased 0.2% year over year to nearly 3.1 million in September, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Convention attendance rose 1.8%, despite changes in the mix and scheduling of shows.
“Continued resilience of the convention segment” helped support visitor numbers, said Kevin Bagger, LVCVA’s Vice President of the Research Center.
Hotel performance weakened despite the slight increase in visitation. Occupancy fell 0.5 percentage points to 78.1%, the average daily room rate declined 6.3% to $178.63, and revenue per available room dropped about 7% to $139.51. Total visitor volume reached 28.8 million through September 30, according to the LVCVA.
Statewide gaming results varied by region. Washoe County gaming win increased 0.4% to $101 million, although Reno declined 3.5% to $73 million. Sparks rose about 21% to $17.2 million.
Elko County gaming win increased 11.7% to $35.2 million, while South Lake Tahoe rose 12.5% to $26.5 million. Mesquite declined 1.35% to $15.2 million.
Slot machines outperformed table games statewide. Slot-machine win rose 1.3% to $948.9 million, while table-game win fell 3.6% to $333.7 million.
Slot-machine coin-in, or the amount wagered, increased 3.1% to $12.8 billion. Table-game wagering volume declined 3.8% to $2.8 billion.
Among table games, craps win fell 25.1% to $32.6 million, and blackjack declined 6.3% to $94 million. Baccarat win rose 11.5% to $58.6 million, while roulette increased 20.3% to $33.6 million. Baccarat’s hold, or the share of wagers retained by casinos, rose to 9.74% from 8.37% a year earlier, despite a 4.1% decline in wagering volume.
Penny-slot win declined 21.4% to $113.9 million, while multi-denomination machines generated $777.4 million, up 7.6%. Shelley Newell, senior economic analyst with the Gaming Control Board, said casinos have been shifting from single-denomination, single-game machines to multi-denomination, multigame devices that offer patrons more choices.
Statewide taxable gaming revenue fell 1.5% to $1.264 billion in September, although it increased 0.1% during the first three months of the fiscal year.
Nevada collected $81.1 million in percentage fees in October through October 20, based on September taxable gaming revenue, down 6.8% from $87 million in the comparable period a year earlier. Percentage-fee collections totaled $337.9 million for the fiscal year to date, a decline of 2.7%.
Gaming win for July through September totaled nearly $3.94 billion.