Only five states out of the 21 jurisdictions followed by Reno-based gaming analyst and consultant Ken Adams experienced a gaming revenue decline during November.
But Nevada’s results during the month off-set any significant dips.
The Silver State – driven by the Las Vegas Strip – accounts for more than one-quarter of the nation’s monthly and annual gaming revenue totals. November’s 6 percent increase in Nevada – a jump of 10 percent on the Strip – was good for the overall number.
“A good month in Vegas is good for the industry totals. And thus the stars were in alignment for gaming in the United States in November,” Adams wrote in his monthly Revenue Revue, which he produces for CDC Gaming.
During November, gaming revenue climbed 5.7 percent nationwide to $3.35 billion. Casino expansions in several market and continued healthy video lottery terminal business several states helped grow the numbers.
With one month left to report, the nation’s gaming revenues compared to a year ago are up 3.64 percent to $38.8 billion.
Both the November and 11-month totals are expected to increase. Neither Delaware nor Florida are included in the total because the state’s hadn’t reported November’s numbers by Jan. 7.
“Fortunately, neither is large enough to have an impact on the overall numbers, each having roughly $40 million in monthly gaming revenues,” Adams wrote.
The largest statewide increases – New Jersey (up 24.7 percent), Massachusetts (a 164 percent jump) and New York (a 9.1 percent increase) – were due to increase gaming options. In New Jersey, it was sports betting. Massachusetts was helped by the opening in August of the $960 million MGM Springfield. New York added a fourth casino, Resorts World Catskills, in early 2018.
New York’s growing market has cut into Pennsylvania’s results. The state was up less than 1 percent in the November. While sports betting was launched toward the end of the month, the activity wasn’t enough to help state’s casinos. Pennsylvania’s largest resort, Sands Bethlehem, saw table game revenue decline 11.6 percent and slot revenue dip 6.4 percent.
“Resorts (Catskills), with increased revenue every month since it opened, is the main cause of the decline of Sands Bethlehem,” Adams wrote. “It was built at a cost of a billion dollars, and is still under-performing, but that has not helped the Sands.”
As for other states, MGM National Harbor, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in December, continues to grow Maryland’s six-casino market. The state as a whole saw gaming revenues jump 7.3 percent and the stylish resort outside Washington D.C. was 13.2 percent over November 2017.
In Illinois, the number of VLTs increased by 10.3 percent to 30,735 in November, and revenue was up 10.9 percent. Riverboat casino revenue in Illinois fell 1.3 percent.
Along the Gulf Coast, Mississippi gaming declined slightly while Louisiana numbers were up less than 1 percent.
On a whole, Adams said gaming revenue nationally in November was helped not only by Nevada, but a Thanksgiving weekend and a healthy economy. Adams found a silver lining in a month driven by new casinos and exceptional results on the Strip.
“So the overall picture for November is not as bright as it appears on the surface,” Adams wrote. “But who could argue that a growth rate of 3.6 percent for the first 11 months of 2018 is not a healthy rate?”
CDC Gaming distributes the Adams Revenue Revue to premium subscribers.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
