Nevada fell just shy of setting an all-time statewide record in March with $1.355 billion in gaming revenue, but Clark County and downtown Las Vegas recorded their highest win totals in history.
March marked the 13th consecutive month that Nevada surpassed $1 billion in gaming revenue, even as travel to Las Vegas picked up steam ahead of Thursday night’s NFL Draft, where hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected on the Strip.
In another good sign, March’s visitation numbers showed that convention attendance at 494,200 reached about 90% of their capacity pre-COVID, and that reflected itself in higher midweek room occupancy. There were 30,700 convention attendees in March 2021.
March’s number represents the second highest win total of all time, just below the record set in July 2021 at $1.359 billion, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Nevada’s $1.35 billion in March revenue is 26.83% higher than the $1.06 billion collected in March 2021.
For the year, statewide revenue is 36.3% higher than the first three months of 2021.
While neither the state nor the Strip set a record, Clark County did. The Gaming Control Board reported the March win in the county was $1.178 billion, an increase of 31.7% over March 2021 and higher than the previous all-time record set last July.
Downtown, which has benefited from the opening of the Circa Resort & Casino in late 2020, continues to grow in gaming revenue with a record $86.4 million reported in March, 22.5% higher than the $70.5 million in March 2021. Deutsche Bank reported downtown gaming revenue was 47.3% higher than 2019 prior to the opening of Circa. Slot win totaled $60.7 million and increased 28.3% ($13.4 million), setting an all-time record for downtown, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported.
The strength in gaming shows no signs of slowing and is only getting stronger as the omicron wave that slowed visitation in early January wanes. That’s good news for the Palms that reopened Wednesday night under new ownership – the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians – after being closed at the start of the pandemic without reopening under Red Rock Resorts ownership.
April is closing with a flurry, headlined by the three-day NFL Draft on the Strip that starts tonight, and BTS concerts over two weekends in the month. The city also hosted the National Association of Broadcasters convention, which attracted nearly 53,000 attendees.
“Gaming activity continues to benefit from a very strong event calendar,” said Michael Lawton, a senior economic analyst for the state. “March’s results further support strong demand for gaming activity and consumer behavior remains consistent across multiple customer segments throughout the majority of markets statewide.”
Additionally, a “traditional March Madness” NCAA basketball tournament atmosphere returned with COVID-19 restrictions including mask requirements being lifted in February, Lawton said.
The Strip led the way with $746.2 million in revenue, some 48.8% higher than the $501.3 million in March 2021. When the record was set in July, the Strip recorded $793.6 million in revenue.
Deutsche Bank reported that Strip revenues in March were 35.2% higher than March 2019 when measured prior to the pandemic. For the first quarter, Strip revenues were 14.1% higher than January through March 2019. Compared to 2021, first quarter Strip revenues were up 63.3%, according to Deutsche Bank.
Deutsche Bank reported slot revenue on the Strip was up 25.2% compared to March 2021. Baccarat revenue fell 8.8%. Other table games rose 8.9% on the Strip.
Slot win of $903.1 million increased 16.8% and coin-in of $12 billion was up $1.5 billion or 13.9%. March’s slot win total represents an all-time record for the state, eclipsing the previous record set in July 2021, Lawton said.
Slot win of $751.6 million in Clark County increased 20.9% and coin-in of $9.5 billion was up $1.456 billion or 18.0%, Lawton said. That beat the previous record in November.
“The state and Clark County both set all-time records for slot win, which were the result of the Las Vegas Strip recording its third highest slot win all-time, in addition to record slot win amounts for downtown Las Vegas and the balance of Clark County,” Lawton said.
For casinos that serve Las Vegas locals, Deutsche Bank reported March revenues were 7.4% higher than March 2021 and 33.2% higher than March 2019. For the quarter, revenues were 20.3% higher compared to 2019 and compared to the first quarter of 2021 were 14.4% higher.
The strong showing in March is no surprise, given what Wall Street analysts were saying about an increase in visitation this spring. That was evidenced earlier this week when Harry Reid International Airport reported March as the best month of air travel since the pandemic began.
The 4.27 million passengers handled was 66% higher than the 2.57 million in March 2021, but just below the 4.41 million in March 2019 and 4.29 million in March 2018 prior to the pandemic.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released stats Thursday that show Las Vegas had 3.3 million visitors in March, second only during the pandemic to the 3.39 million in October when the delta wave waned and conventions returned in bigger numbers.
The average daily traffic on major highways leading to Nevada was 126,847 in March, down 0.1% from February but up 5.3% from 120,515 in March 2019.
Among big events held in March were the NASCAR Weekend featuring the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on March 4th, the NASCAR Xfinity Series on March 5th and the NASCAR Cup Series on March 6th at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
UFC 272 was held at the T-Mobile Arena on March 5; the main event featured Jorge Masvidal fighting Colby Covington. NCAA college basketball tournaments returned to Las Vegas with the city hosting the West Coast Athletic Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the PAC-12 Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments during March, Lawton said.
Elsewhere, North Las Vegas had $27.1 million in gaming revenue, a 3.3% increase over $26.3 million in March 2021.
Laughlin recorded $49.8 million, a 4.3% increase over the $47.7 million in March 2021.
Mesquite had $18.3 million, some 11.1% higher than the $16.5 million in March 2021.
Washoe County in northern Nevada had $84.7 million, 1.9% higher than $83.1 million in March 2021.
Deutsche Bank reported Reno gross gaming revenue of $59.8 million was up 19.6% versus 2019 and up 1.3% versus 2021.
South Lake Tahoe recorded $25.4 million in revenue, an increase of 5.5% from $24 million in March 2021.
Table, counter, and card game win of $452.2 million increased 53.1% and games drop of $3.1 billion increased 44.0% from March 2021, Lawton said.
Statewide, baccarat win of $131.7 million increased 93.2% and baccarat drop of $659.9 million increased 88.9%. Baccarat’s hold percentage was 19.96% versus 19.53% last year, Lawton said.
Nevada sportsbooks won $36.9 million, down 6.2% compared to March 2021, due to a hold percentage of 4.28% versus 6.14% last year. Sportsbook wagers totaled $863 million, up 34.7% compared to March 2021, Lawton said.
Sports wagers made with mobile apps won $19.1 million on $576.3 million in wagers, holding 3.31%. This amount accounted for 66.8% of total wagers, Lawton said.
Hotel occupancy was 80.6% in March, up from 55.1% in March 2021, but still below the 91.5% in March 2019. It was 59.3% in February. Weekend occupancy was 92.1%, below March 2019’s 97.1%.
Weekday occupancy was 76.6% in March, up from 47.8% a year ago in March, but below the 88.9% in March 2019. Midweek occupancy was 60.7% in February in a reflection that the convention business is recovering.
The meetings and trade shows that returned across the destination in March included the ASD Las Vegas, National Automobile Dealers Association, Bar & Restaurant Expo, and International Pizza Expo.
The Strip occupancy was 82.9% in March, while downtown’s came in at 69.1%. It was 92.9% and 88.1%, respectively, in March 2019.
The average daily room rate was $173.63 on the Strip in March, while downtown averaged $97.96. In March 2019, it was $143.83 on the Strip and $74.94 in downtown.
Revenue per available room reached $131.49 for the month, dramatically ahead of March 2021 (+136.7%) and 7.3% over March 2019 levels, according to the LVCVA.
