Operator News

US – Formula 1 helps drive Nevada to its second most profitable month in November

Nevada’s casinos enjoyed their second-highest win ever, fuelled by the excitement surrounding the return of Formula One racing, which boosted the Strip’s performance by 22.6 per cent.

Only July earlier in the year was more lucrative for casinos in Nevada meaning that the state smashed its personal best twice in 2023.

Across the state, casinos generated $1.37bn, an increase of 12.5 per cent rise from November 2022 with Formula One clearly playing its part in an increase in tourism with 3,292,800 visitors in November.

Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst, said: “The four-day period beginning on November 16th was extremely profitable for both gaming and non-gaming activity on the Las Vegas Strip with some properties estimating those days established all-time record levels of revenue. The event’s success was more evident at luxury properties where the Las Vegas Strip’s baccarat increase accounted for 78.6 per cent of the state’s growth this month. Additionally, the 25 licensees that are included in the $72m or over revenue range for annual gross gaming win on the Las Vegas Strip increased by $160m or 25.8 per cent compared to last November and accounted for over 100 per cent of the state’s entire increase for the month.”

The Strip’s games win came in at $410.1m, marking the third highest total in Nevada’s history, and up 61.9 per cent from last year. This increase was led by baccarat which generated $178.3m, up 208.7 per cent from last year.

The influx of tourist spend wasn’t felt everywhere across the state though with Downtown Las Vegas down two per cent with revenues of $81.1m.

The Boulder Strip was down 2.1 per cent to $83.3m whilst North Las Vegas secured a 0.61 per cent increase to $23m. North Lake Tahoe experienced an eight per cent fall as did South Lake Tahoe.

For the year so far, Nevada GGR are on track to set a new record with revenues up 4.1 per cent over the first 11 months of the record-breaking 2022. November also saw the 33rd consecutive month that the state generated revenues of more than $1bn with November’s revenue coming in higher than November 2019’s total by 46.6 per cent.