The July revenue report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) showed that the state brought in $1.3bn (€1.2bn/£984m) in statewide gross gambling revenue (GGR), a 7% year-over-year decrease.
The Silver State extended its streak of consecutive months with a billion-plus in GGR to 41 in July. But due to the fact that July 2023 was the second-highest total ever ($1.4bn), this year looks disappointing by comparison.
According to the NGCB, July’s $97m year-over-year statewide decline was the highest since November 2022. That month saw a $100m decline from November 2021.
Of all the totals published on Wednesday (28 August), perhaps the most notable was that of the Las Vegas Strip. America’s premier gaming street posted $709m in GGR, off 15% from last year. Nearly all table-game metrics were down year-over-year for the Strip, led by a 66% slide in baccarat win ($64m), which has been a boom-or-bust category in recent years. Overall the sector posted a 30% decline.
Slot metrics were not much kinder, as the multi-denom category was the only one of the nine tracked by the NGCB to record an increase from last year. That category posted $297.5m in GGR, a 23.5% increase and enough to buoy the sector to break even.
The summer slump is notable when considering that Atlantic City, the other casino hub in the US, also saw a marked GGR drop-off in July (-6.1%). Those results sparked new debates about revenue cannibalisation, as New Jersey’s igaming revenue of $195m was a 26% jump from last July. Online gambling is not legal in Nevada, in part due to cannibalisation fears.
Off-Strip markets win the month; no luck for the North
Outside the Strip, other southern Nevada markets posted big increases.
The locals market continued its winning streak in July with $171m in GGR, up 19% from last year. So far in 2024, the market has posted year-over-year gains of at least 6% for every month. The NGCB reported in June that its performance in FY2024 was 7.4% above FY2023.
Elsewhere, Downtown Las Vegas ($71.8m) and the Boulder Strip ($85.6m) saw gains of 10% and 8%, respectively. Mesquite was the other southern market in the black, posting GGR of $13.7m (+4%).
July was less fruitful for the northern half of the state. Every northern market except North Lake Tahoe stayed flat or posted year-over-year decreases, but at $3.6m, North Lake is by far the smallest locale tallied by the NGCB. Reno ($69.2m) and Sparks ($15.2m) saw decreases of 4% and 11%, respectively.
State sportsbooks won $25.8m, up 2% from last year. Of that total, $19m came from mobile wagering, which was a 38% increase year-over-year.
