Nevada casinos won $1.29 billion last month, a 1.65% decline from March 2023 and the first year-over-year monthly decline for the Silver State gaming industry in eight months.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) unveiled gaming revenue numbers for the state’s 316 casinos and gaming licensees on Thursday. While statewide table win grew 2.5% to $415.9 million, slots failed to compete with their record performance set in March 2023. The reels won $874.5 million, 3.5% lower than their monthly all-time high of $906.5 million set in March 2023.
The state’s most critical metered market, the Las Vegas Strip, saw play slow 1.2% to $715.8 million. Slots on the main drag won 5% less money from gamblers at $401.4 million. The table felt bridged some of those losses, but the 4% gain to $314.4 million wasn’t enough to fully offset the reduced slot hold.
Oddsmakers also didn’t fare as well, as much of March Madness went the public’s way with favorites UConn and South Carolina respectively winning the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. Sportsbook win fell 32% to about $29.8 million on a poor 3.8% win rate.
First Quarter Still Strong
March 2023 was a difficult comparison, as the month last year had two additional weekend days than it did in 2024.
Despite the year-over-year monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) decline, the March 2024 filing shows that the Nevada gaming industry continues to grow. Through the first quarter, GGR totaled more than $3.9 billion, a 2.35% year-over-year premium.
Table play fueled the three-month increase, as the felt accounted for $1.32 billion of the total win, up 6% from Q1 2023. Slot machines reported a trivial 0.4% increase to $2.58 billion. Sports betting win, which the NGCB groups into the card revenue, grew 5% to $142.4 million.
Though March 2024 wasn’t as rich as March 2023, the month’s nearly $1.3 billion haul extended Nevada’s monthly streak of winning at least $1 billion to 37 consecutive months. Before the unprecedented $1B+ run, the Nevada gaming industry’s longest monthly GGR streak winning upwards of 10 digits was only eight months long, a feat experienced between October 2006 through May 2007.
In the first quarter, most markets experienced revenue gains. Strip GGR climbed 2.5% to $2.2 billion, South Shore Lake Tahoe saw win jump 4.5% to $55.4 million, and Washoe County, home to Reno, soared 12% to $246.9 million.
There were a few market losers, including Downtown Las Vegas where GGR tumbled 3% to $238.2 million. Elko County GGR fell 2% to $99.2 million, and Nye County casinos reported a 4% reduction in casino win to $17 million.
March Travel Robust
Casino win might have slowed a bit last month but visitation to Southern Nevada remained strong. Harry Reid International Airport officials revealed Thursday that Las Vegas’ primary air hub served over five million passengers, a 2% bounce on March 2023.
Year to date, air traffic at Harry Reid was up 1.7% through March to more than 13.7 million arriving and departing passengers.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority later this week will release its March report that will provide additional details on Southern Nevada’s tourism and gaming industries, including overall visitor volume, convention attendance, and hotel occupancy levels.
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