Operator News
US – Casino sportsbooks help Nevada past the $1bn mark for first time in 12 months
By Phil - 1 March 2018
Nevada’s GGR smashed the $1bn threshold in January for the first time in 12 months although with table revenues falling on the Strip it was left to casino sportsbooks to keep revenues on track.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board confirmed that statewide gaming revenue surpassed $1.015bn in January, which whilst a 2.5 per cent drop from January 2017 was also the best month since then and the first since then that revenue has surpassed the $1bn mark.
Michael Lawton, Senior Research Analyst with the board’s Tax and License Division, highlighted though that Chinese New Year, which boasts tourism to Las Vegas, took place in January last year compared to February this year. He also pointed out that January had one less weekend day this year.
With tables falling 10.5 per cent to $359.5m compared to January 2017, due to a drop in baccarat, and slots up just 3.3 per cent to $655.5m, it was left to a near record month for casino sportsbooks to boost the revenues over a billion.
Revenue at casino sportsbooks increased by nearly 216 per cent to $25.1m for the month, led by bets on basketball, which accounted for $15m, followed by football bets which generated $7.8m.
The huge increase wasn’t felt at sportsbooks across the state where revenue was down 3.1 per cent to $3.1m.
Casinos on the Strip saw their revenues fall by 8.9 per cent from $608.9m to $554.7m.
Downtown Las Vegas casinos reported a small increase in their January revenue, generating $56.5m in revenues which was up 1.76 per cent.
