Posted on: January 9, 2025, 03:45h.
Last updated on: January 9, 2025, 03:45h.
Nevada casinos and other gaming facilities combined to win $1.1316 billion from players in November. That marked a 4.2% year-over-year decline and was the state gaming industry’s second consecutive monthly revenue drop.
On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board disclosed that the state’s 315 licensed slot machine establishments and 255 table game, keno, bingo, race, and sports betting locations saw play slow despite Formula One racing into town for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Statewide, slots won about $810.6 million. Table games, sports betting, keno, and bingo accounted for $505.9 million.
Slots were responsible for the overall year-over-year gross gaming revenue (GGR) decline, as the machines saw their net win tumble almost 7%. Revenue from tables, sports, keno, and bingo was flat.
Tough Comparable, Calendar
The inaugural racing of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2023 brought in hordes of high rollers from Europe who packed the Strip’s most luxurious hotel rooms and wagered extensively on the upscale casino floors at Wynn, The Venetian, Caesars Palace, Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, Aria, and others. The second installment of the F1 shindig didn’t come with the same hype and interest.
Michael Lawton, the NGCB’s senior economic analyst, said November 2023 was a difficult comparable. He also said November 2024 ending on a Saturday meant weekend play from Nov. 30 was reported as December results.
It seems our numbers in Southern Nevada were lower as expected, considering attendance at Formula One wasn’t as large as the previous year,” said Lawton. “We were facing a difficult comparison, as last November was the third-highest win total in state history. However, if we were not negatively impacted by slot revenue timing, the state would have recorded an increase year-over-year.”
GGR on the Strip in November was down 3.9% to $788.7 million. Table games, which the affluent F1 demographic prefers, saw win drop over 5%, with craps and baccarat the primary culprits.
Other areas away from the Strip and F1 setup fared better.
North Las Vegas (up 6%, $24.5 million) and Mesquite (up 9%, $16.4 million) both saw gaming revenue increase. Outside of Clark County, Elko saw GGR climb 5% to $33.7 million and Sparks was up 8% to $15 million.
But other major markets followed Las Vegas in seeing GRR decline. Douglas County, home of South Shore Lake Tahoe, was down 20% to $14.4 million, as a fire in late October made the start of the month sleepy in the Sierra Nevada town. Washoe County, home of Reno, reported a 6% revenue falloff to $76 million.
LVCVA Defends Race
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), a founding partner of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that was instrumental in bringing the circuit to Southern Nevada, said the 2023 race had a positive $1.5 billion in economic impact. The LVCVA also said the race brought 145K unique visitors to the city.
Many locals and off-Strip businesses have expressed frustration with how the race impacts the area. For example, Jay’s Market on Flamingo Rd. at Koval Lane said it sold $340K less fuel in November 2024 than it did in November 2022 before F1 arrived. The revenue difference led to a profit decline from $104K in 2022 to $36K.
Despite Jay’s Market and many other small businesses grievances, LVCVA officials say the 2024 race was another success. They pointed to November visitation numbers that showed 3.31 million people ventured into Las Vegas, a 0.6% improvement from November 2023 when 3.29 million did.
The LVCVA blamed poor convention attendance — down 8% — for what would have otherwise been a strong visitor volume report. The LVCVA is responsible for keeping Las Vegas meeting rooms and halls bustling throughout the year.
