Nevada May GGR down – but sports betting up 29.7% amid baseball boom

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released the state’s gaming revenue results for the month of May. 

In total, gaming revenue came to $1.29bn, down 2.2% year-over-year. Of this, table, counter and card games accounted for $446.5m, up 2.8%, while slots accounted for the remaining $845.3m, down 4.6%. 

Among table, counter and card games, mini-baccarat saw the sharpest increase in revenue, up 81.4% to $9.4m. This was followed by pai gow and other betting types, up 43.5% and 42.9% respectively. Conversely, roulette revenue declined by a notable 25.8% to $23.7m in May, followed by pai gow poker, which dropped 21.4% annually to $10.1m.  

Bar $100 and multi-denominational slots, all slots were down annually, with 5¢ slots seeing the sharpest decline at 36.3%, totaling $1.8m. However, as the highest earning slot type, multi-denominational slot growth of 7.7% allowed the segment’s overall decline to only total 2.2%, with these slots making $634.5m in May. 

Looking towards the Clark County Las Vegas Strip more specifically, revenue totaled $713.8m, down 3.9% year-over-year. Much like the state overall, roulette and pai gow poker were down 28.7% and 21.5% respectively, with all slots bar $100 and multi-denominational seeing declines of over 15%.  

Good to know: The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently gave final approval of Apollo’s $6.3bn IGT-Everi acquisition

However, the Las Vegas Strip also reported a decline in other betting revenue of 31.9%, making $3.1m for the month. Blackjack, while up only 0.02% statewide, was down 4.1% on the Strip, while craps were up 24.8%, in line with overall state growth of 21.3%.  

Sports betting on the Strip, interestingly, was up 31.6% year-over-year, aided significantly by 105.6% and 103.9% growth in baseball and hockey betting respectively. While this aligns somewhat with overall state growth, with sports betting up 29.7% and baseball specifically up 91.9%, hockey betting was only up 45.2% statewide, suggesting a particular interest in the sport among Strip players.  

Bucking the trend of table, counter and card game decline was Downtown Las Vegas, where revenue was reported to have increased 21.2% overall, totaling $26.3m. Here, despite a 232.3% decrease in let it ride revenue, mini-baccarat saw annual growth of 24%, with roulette up 6.5%, while race book revenue shot up by a significant 413.3%, making $177,000.  

Despite this, a 9.7% dip in multi-denominational slot revenue, totaling $427.3m, combined with a 51.5% and 48.5% dip in $5 and 1¢ slots respectively, saw overall Downtown Las Vegas slot revenue down 24.6% to $40.1m. This brought Downtown Las Vegas gaming revenue to $66.4m, down 11.4% annually.  

Other high-earning areas in the state include Washoe County, making $87.6m, down 3.6%, in part due to a 7.1% decline in revenue from Reno. The Clark County Boulder area also drew in notable revenue at $77.4m, down 8.7%. By annual growth, the Clark County Laughlin area was up the most significantly at 16.9% (making $43.2m), while on the other hand, Douglas County South Shore Lake Tahoe Area saw the sharpest decline, down 23.4% to $13.6m.  

Beth Turner

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