Nevada registered a record statewide monthly gaming win for the month of July 2023 with its non-restricted gaming licensees garnering a total gambling revenue of $1.4 billion. The Las Vegas Strip also posted an all-time high performance during the month, with its 60 licensees posting $834.9 million of the $1.2 billion Clark County casinos won from players during the month.
What is notable is that the statewide 6.69% rise over the previous year’s $1.3 billion revenue was achieved in a month when the number of operating casinos decreased, from 453 in July 2022 to 439 in July 2023, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Revenue from slot machine and baccarat tables were strong during the month. “The Reader’s Digest version of what drove this month’s record win amounts is slot win, which although wasn’t an all-time record, it was the third-highest total all-time for the state and the second-highest total for the Strip,” Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst for the Gaming Control Board, was quoted as saying in the report.
“Then, of course, the baccarat figures are incredibly strong albeit due to extremely elevated hold. Those baccarat totals led to the second-highest game and table win totals of all time for the state and the Strip. When you put it all together, a new all-time record for the state and the Strip was established in July 2023,” Lawton added.
During August 2023, the state collected $95.7 million in percentage fees, calculated based on the taxable revenues generated in July 2023. This amount reflects a 5.94% increase, equivalent to $5.37 million, when compared to August of the previous year.
In the same time frame in the prior year, the percentage fee collections stood at $90.39 million. The state collected a total of $176.9 million in gaming tax revenue in the first two months of the 2023-24 fiscal year, which marks a 5.4% growth over the last year, the report said.
Las Vegas Strip posted a new record month
The July gaming win also reflects a 37% increment over pre-pandemic July 2019 and marks the 29th consecutive month that the state of Nevada clocked over $1 billion in monthly gaming win. For the calendar year to date through July, Strip win is up 6.5% and the state is up 4.1%, on course to another record year.
Casinos in the Las Vegas Strip raked in revenues of $834.89 million, up nearly 8% from $773.39 million generated in the same period last year. Downtown came a distant second in Clark County with revenues of $65.37 million, marking an increase of about 9% from $60 million in July 2022, the data showed. Notably, North Las Vegas casinos witnessed a decrease with revenues dropping 2% to $24 million.
In total, Clark County casinos generated $1.2 billion, which is 7.5% more than what they made in the same month last year. The balance of Clark County, which includes unincorporated areas of Southern Nevada, accounted for $143.79 million while Washoe County casinos raked in $100 million.
The record growth follows a nationwide growing trend. A recent report from the American Gaming Association points out that the commercial gaming industry in the country recorded $16.07 billion in revenue in the second quarter.
Revenue from commercial gaming, encompassing traditional casino games, sports betting, and iGaming helped the industry surpass the $16 billion mark for a consecutive second quarter. The three-month period marked the industry’s second highest-grossing quarter ever and the tenth consecutive quarter of annual growth.