A bump in the economy during April was good news for the nation’s casino industry.
Gaming revenue nationally reached $3.5 billion, an increase of almost 4 percent, during the month, according to figures compiled by Reno-based gaming analyst and consultant Ken Adams.
Just five out of the 21 jurisdictions with commercial casinos and video lottery terminals analyzed by Adams had a down month. For the first four months of 2018, national gaming revenue is up 2.38 percent to $13.96 billion.
“Even though there was one less Saturday this year, which theoretically should have caused a 4.59 percent decrease in revenues, April was an unusually good month for gaming,” Adams wrote in his monthly Adams Revenue Revue, which he produces for CDC Gaming Reports.
New York was the only state with a double-digit gaming revenue increase – 21.7 percent – but that was due to the addition of the Resorts World Catskills, which opened in February.
Economic factors helped fuel the results nationwide, Adams said. The national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent during the month was the lowest since 2000, and April was the 91st consecutive month of job gains. The only significant negative economic factor was an increase in the price of gas.
“As prices at the pump go up, travel and discretionary spending tend to go down,” Adams said.
But that wasn’t the case.
Nevada gaming revenues rose 7.5 percent in April, Illinois grew 4.9 percent, Detroit’s three casinos combined for a 2.5 percent increase, and Atlantic City was up 1.3 percent.
Adams cited “an individual narrative” in each market as illustration.
Online gaming fueled New Jersey’s increase; casinos in Atlantic City saw gaming revenue rise less that 1 percent, while Internet play was up 10 percent. Detroit benefited from the closure of the Caesars Windsor property across the river in Canada. The casino reopened last week following a 60-day strike.
In Illinois, the growing number of video lottery terminals in bars, taverns and other locations statewide, continues to slice into casino revenues. The riverboat casinos saw gaming revenue decline 5.3 percent while revenue from the 28,942 VLTs grew 10.2 percent.
“The only good news for the casinos in Illinois is that the state Legislature failed to pass legislation that would have added either 10,000 or 12,000 additional VLTs in the state,” Adams said.
He also cited Maryland, which saw gaming revenue grow 5.7 percent to $143.7 million.
Adams said increases at both the MGM National Harbor and Maryland Live! show that the “landscape seems to be stabilizing” as other casinos absorb the impact of the $1.4 billion MGM property just outside Washington D.C., which opened in December 2016.
CDC Gaming Reports distributes the Adams Revenue Revue to premium subscribers.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
