The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has released its financial results for the month of September, showing total gaming win of $1.27bn, up 1.7% year-on-year. The state’s gaming win has also increased by 2.9% during its fiscal-year period (which begins July 1).
Though trends have shown otherwise in other states’ reports, table games and card game revenue specifically rose in Nevada by 16.6% year-on-year to reach $456m. Slot machines, however, are still the highest revenue generator, bringing in $814.6m, even after a decrease of 5.1% from September 2022.
The table game to generate the most win was baccarat, rising 85.8% year-on-year to bring in $148.8m. Multi-denomination slot revenue was the highest of any game type, rising 5.7% to $473.9m; 1 cent slots took the second-place spot with $249m in revenue, but this showed a 16.8% decline year-on-year.
The county to generate the most revenue was Las Vegas’ own Clark County, accounting for nearly $1.1bn of the state’s total (a 2.8% rise annually), while the Las Vegas Strip specifically brought in $741.2m, up from $693.1m in September 2022. Downtown Las Vegas revenue fell by 7.9% year-on-year to $68.4m.
Washoe County brought in $91.7m, down 6.6% overall, with each of its cities also down at least 2% year-on-year. Reno accounted for nearly $64m of the county’s total, but suffered a 7% drop annually. South Lake Tahoe also decreased its revenue by 5.7% to $26.3m and Elko County revenue dipped 0.8% to $33.4m.
September in the Silver State saw more than a few gaming industry changes: the NCBG investigation cleared the name of Scott Sibella, but the President of Resorts World still left his role and Peter LaVoie stepped up; the Schools Over Stadiums committee has begun a referendum petition to repeal state funding for the proposed Oakland Athletics’ Vegas stadium; the soon-to-open Fontainebleau Las Vegas held a five-day hiring fair for over 6,000 new team members; and the Venetian debuted its high-limit gaming lounge at the Palazzo.
The long-awaited opening of The Sphere at the Venetian also took place in September, and inspired several Las Vegas resorts to celebrate in style, in in tribute to the Sphere’s first artist to perform, U2. Perhaps the most high-profile thing to affect Nevada in September this year, however, were the cyber attacks on both MGM Resorts and Caesars.
All of these events could have contributed one way or another to Nevada’s September tourism, commerce and, therefore, gaming revenue. In October, local union members rallied on the Las Vegas Strip and voted 95% in favor of an upcoming strike; the Rio also cancelled the remaining shows at its entertainment venue, The Duomo; and tons of gaming industry professionals flocked to the Venetian’s conference center for the Global Gaming Expo.
It will be interesting to not only see the October gaming revenue results Nevada is able to achieve, but also what happens when November’s revenue is in the books, after Las Vegas hosts the Formula 1 Grand Prix for the first time since the 1980s.
