Zona de Azar USA – Nevada Gaming Revenues Decline 19.5% in October

USA.- November 25th 2020 www.zonadeazar.com Nevada’s gaming revenues declined 19.5% in October, marking the state’s lowest monthly drop since the coronavirus pandemic closed the casino industry for 78 days starting in March.

The Gaming Control Board said Tuesday casinos collected almost $822.7 million from customers during the month, which compared with more than $1.02 billion in October 2019.

The calendar might have been a help.

Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior research analyst, said October had two extra weekend days compared to a year ago. Also, table game revenue was the best figure since casinos reopened in June with $256.8 million, down just 20.4% compared to a year ago.

Statewide, gaming revenues are down 36.05% through October, which includes drops of 45.5% in June, 26.2% in July, $39.2% in August, and 22.4% in September. Casinos revenues were down more than 99% in both April and May.

The state was a tale of two markets during October – the north versus the south.

Casinos throughout Washoe County grew gaming revenues collectively 6.12%, including a 6% increase in Reno, a 22% surge in North Lake Tahoe, and a 10.9% jump in the South Lake Tahoe market.

It was a different story in Clark County, where gaming revenues fell a combined 23.6%. The Las Vegas Strip saw revenues dip 30.2% in October, which was the market’s smallest decline this year. Downtown gaming revenues were down 22.7%, and the Boulder Strip was down 25%. Two markets, however, the rural community of Mesquite and the balance of Clark County were both on the positive side of the ledger.

“The performance of markets in Northern Nevada, in addition to Mesquite and the balance of Clark County, was the result of the favorable calendar and the fact that these markets rely on a combination drive-in traffic and local play,” Lawton said. “The recovery is going to be uneven between markets that rely on local play versus markets that rely more on destination air travel.”

There was one bright spot on the Strip – baccarat revenues of $57.7 million was an increase of 3.5% despite a decline of 42.7% in wagering. Casinos, played lucky, holding 14.6% of all baccarat wagers.

Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon said Strip casinos saw their highest monthly gaming revenue totals since the pandemic. However, the restrictions that began Tuesday to reduce capacity inside casinos from 50% to 25% due to surging COVID-19 numbers, will hurt revenue totals going forward.

“Gaming revenues should face continued headwinds given the increase in cases in Nevada and heightened restrictions,” Beynon said.

Through October, Strip gaming revenues are down 43.6%, downtown Las Vegas is off 35.8%, while Washoe County is down 23.8%.

Results from Strip casinos accounted for 82% of October’s total decrease and 87% of the statewide decrease since the casino business resumed.

Record sports betting month

Statewide, sportsbooks took in wagers of $659.6 million, an increase of 21.3% and an all-time single-month record, beating last October’s previous record of $614.5 million. Revenues, however, declined 11.5% to $42.4 million.

Nevada sports gamblers placed 57.1% of all wagers – $376.9 million – on mobile sports betting apps.

Las Vegas visitation

COVID-19 continued to hamper visitor volume in Las Vegas, which was down year-over-year in October 49.4% to almost 1.86 million tourists. But the good news was the total number of visitors grew 9% over September. For the first 10 months of the year, visitor volume is down 54.2%

However, for the seventh straight month, Las Vegas chalked up a zero for convention attendance as capacity restrictions eliminated meetings and conferences.

The governor’s newly tightened coronavirus pandemic restrictions in response to a rise in COVID-19 cases statewide will impact visitation going into the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.

Hotel re‐openings at the end of September and in early October put Las Vegas’ available room count at 140,658 rooms. Total occupancy was 46.9% for the month and weekend occupancy reached 64.2%. Midweek occupancy reached 38.6%, which is a reason several resorts have closed hotels between Monday and Thursday.

The Strip’s average daily room rate was $104.54 in October, down 22.8 percent from a year ago. Revenue per available room was off 59.7% to $49.

By, Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports.

Edited by: @MaiaDigital www.zonadeazar.com