Las Vegas Strip Casino Revenue Slows, Follows 2024 National Trend
The first monthly revenue loss for the Las Vegas Strip casinos since June 2023 occurred in January 2024. However, other Nevada casinos made up for it, posting a profit to start the new year.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) said on Thursday that January earnings for Strip casinos were $686.1 million, a 3.8% decrease from the previous year.
The gross gaming revenue (GGR) from table games was the cause of the 15% decline in GGR from January 2023. Roulette, craps, and blackjack all saw double-digit losses over the previous year.
A unique boost occurred in baccarat, when wins from the game that is popular among Asian players improved by 7%. The GGR of strip slot machines increased by 3% to $400.7 million, but the profits were insufficient to overcome the table's difficulties.
January brick-and-mortar casino decreases were felt in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, and Maryland, among other states. The Strip's GGR decline in January was consistent with a trend observed over a large portion of the United States.
One bright light for the Strip last month was sports betting in addition to slots. With a $28.5 million win, the oddsmakers on S. Las Vegas Blvd. increased their hold by 35% from the previous year.
January Data
Reno and neighborhood casinos in Clark County, which surrounds Las Vegas, as well as other parts of the state, managed to push Nevada's gaming industry to a record in January, despite the fact that the most significant gaming market in the world witnessed a slowdown in January.
The casinos in downtown Las Vegas took in $85.7 million, or around 1% more money. Mesquite gaming had a 0.5% increase to $15.8 million, while Laughlin's GGR increased by 4% to $44.4 million.
The total casino win in the remaining portion of Clark County, which includes outlying casinos like the recently opened Durango, increased by over 11% to $169.3 million. The win for Douglas County increased by 5% to $18.2 million.
Reno's home county of Washoe County boasts casinos that had a 36% increase in GGR to $86.5 million in January, presumably due to improved weather.
The total GGR for January 2024 in the state's metered gaming markets was slightly under $1.28 billion. That is a new high for the first month of the year and represents a 0.5% premium over January 2023.
Nevada has continued to gain at least $1 billion from gamblers since January 2024. The stretch has already lasted 35 months, with the COVID-19 pandemic being the last month that GGR was lower than ten digits.
February Prediction
Some market experts speculate that some passengers may have postponed their post-December holiday vacation plans from January to February, which may have contributed to the Strip's January slowdown. That was done in order to be there in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl's inaugural game.
On Sunday, February 11, Super Bowl LVIII was held at Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders.
"January 2023 represented a very difficult comparison, as the Strip was up 25.7% over January 2022. Furthermore, it would be a safe assumption that after an extremely active November and December, customers deferred trips from January to February for the Super Bowl,” explained Michael Lawton, the senior economic analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Lawton also mentioned that this year's Chinese New Year fell in February, which probably had an even bigger effect on the Strip's January performance.
Less people passed through Harry Reid International Airport in January, according to reports. The main airport in Las Vegas handled 4.34 million people coming and going, a decrease of over 1%.
