Nevada marks 50th consecutive month of generating over $1bn, but third of revenue declines
A mixed bag in April saw Nevada and the Las Vegas Strip post their third consecutive months of declines, although April did mark the 50th consecutive month of the state generating over $1bn.
The declines, reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, were slight with a fall of 0.5 per cent in gaming revenue in April across the state, where revenues came in at $1.23bn, and a drop of 2.8 per cent on The Strip where GGR amounted to $646.8m.
It could have been worse, too, if baccarat hadn’t performed so well on the Strip. Revenues from baccarat increased by 42.2 per cent to $108.3m on the Strip.
Shelley Newell, senior economic analyst at the Control Board, noted: “Markets overall were stable and consistent. We also saw that Baccarat volume totaled $573.8m and was up 17 per cent or $112.4m for the Strip. Baccarat hold was 13.97 per cent vs. 11.57 per cent compared to last year. The increase in volume and play along with the higher hold percentage in April could be contributing factors for April’s Baccarat figures. While Las Vegas did lose two headliners, Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood, as they recently ended their residency in Las Vegas, other events such as WWE drew in large crowds. We often see volume and play go up when we have popular events in town.”
Slot revenue fell by 5.3 per cent tof $387.5m whilst non-baccarat table games, fell by 16 per cent to $151.1m. Whilst the Strip fell, local markets showed their strength up 3.2 per cent to $278.9m. Downtown Las Vegas up one per cent to $83.6m, North Las Vegas increased 4.4 per cent to $24.8m whilst Boulder Strip casinos increased by 8.1 per cent to $89.8m.
Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli said: “Results were below expectations, given the tailwind from a low baccarat hold in April of 2024, despite a tough slot hold comparison given the timing of collections in April of 2024.”
“We note that the slot hold of 7.4 per cent was the highest hold in locals since January 2024, a month that tends to benefit from year-end slot collections,” Santarelli added. “Table revenue of $42.2m was down 8.7 per cent year over year, as hold of 14.1 per cent was down about 40 basis points year over year and table drop was down six per cent.”
