Operator News
US – Betting beats baccarat as Nevada delivers another $1bn month
By Phil - 26 April 2019
Nevada’s gambling market delivered yet another $1bn month in February although a slight dip in revenue marked the third month of falls. Sports betting generated more revenue than baccarat for the first time since March 2004 whilst roulette recorded its second best monthly total ever.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board confirmed the state’s casinos generated $1.012bn in revenue in March, marking a fall of 0.62 per cent compared to march 2018. February’s decline was also slight whilst January’s was bigger at three per cent.
Michael Lawton, Senior Analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said: “All things considered, whenever we record a billion dollars in gaming win we are very pleased, although for this month that still resulted in a very small decrease statewide. The culprit for this month’s slight decline was baccarat win, which totalled $53.6m and was down 54.3 per cent. Volumes were down significantly compared to last year. With the exception of baccarat play, the fundamentals for continued increases in gaming revenue are healthy and moving in the right direction. Baccarat was off 25.5 per cent or $45.2m due to volumes being down 18 per cent on a hold of 12.77 per cent vs.14.05 per cent last year. Excluding baccarat, the state would have increased 6.9 per cent in total win.’
Baccarat’s revenue of $484.3m was the lowest single-month total since June 2009. Baccarat revenue has fallen in seven of the last eight months. Roulette revenues jumped by 43.5 percent to $41.7m, the second highest monthly total ever for roulette. One of the most interesting aspects of the month was that betting was up 14.4 per cent to $596.8m, marking its highest ever monthly total, boosted by an all time record month for basketball with best reaching $495.1m. This was the first time that sports betting has surpassed baccarat revenues in Nevada in almost 15 years.
Casinos on the Strip felt a slight downturn in their overall revenues, down by two per cent year-on-year whilst Downtown was up by nine per cent.
Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli said: “We continue to believe the high-end gaming declines will have a greater impact on flow through than most appreciate in the first quarter.”
Macquarie Securities analyst Chad Beynon said high-end play on the Strip ‘remains weak beyond the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year’ but predicted a ‘good first quarter for non-VIP focused operators.’
