“Casino in dying Las Vegas dumps human dealers” is a recent headline from the UK’s Daily Mail.
Las Vegas is a virtual headline machine. Rarely does a day pass that the city does not have some tidbit to offer. For the most part, the news is positive: new casinos, new shows, sporting events, holiday celebrations, and leading trends in the world of casino-resorts. But lately, the press has been having a field day with downturns in Sin City. In part, it is political, as the liberal press looks for ways to impugn the current administration. In part, it is commercial, as negative news gets more clicks. And in part, it is leftover from the days when Las Vegas was a sinful city and the nation loudly and proudly did not approve.
The last week or two have been especially ripe pickings. In July, Nevada reported the gaming results for June. The state booked yet another month of over a billion dollars in gross gaming revenue, a streak stretching back to 2021. The GGR was $1.332 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent over June 2024. The Las Vegas Strip reported $765.2 million, up 0.8 percent. In the overall scheme of things, that’s not bad, but the other numbers for Las Vegas were not as good. The airport reported a 6.3 percent decline in passengers to 4.7 million from 5 million. The number of conventioneers declined 10.7 percent to 374,600. Hotel occupancy was 78.7 percent, down from 85.2 percent in 2024. And the number of occupied rooms dropped 9.7 percent to 3,546,600.
First, some context. Las Vegas had 3.5 million occupied room nights and counting downtown, the Strip, and other casinos in the city, it generated $949.5 million in GGR. The hotel occupancy was low for Las Vegas, but still 10 points over the national average of 68.5 percent. And while the city was not as busy in June as it was in 2024, it was far from the empty ghost town in the Daily Mail headline. As the famous Mail said, the Golden Gate Casino in downtown Las Vegas is eliminating life table games. To give the Mail its due, the article dealt in detail with the economics of table games, slot machines, and labor costs. The Golden Gate is simply doing what many small casinos are doing, cutting expenses as much as possible. But that was not the headline, was it?
“An Empty Strip and Fewer Tips: Is Las Vegas in Trouble?” was the headline of a Time article. It quoted Gloria Valdez, a restaurant hostess, as saying, “The pandemic was something that was worldwide and we had the hope that everything would get better. We’re not sure if and when this is gonna stop.” That statement implies that Las Vegas has still not recovered from the pandemic. Clearly not true.
Time went on to say, “The numbers are catching up to a story being told by locals and visitors for several months now of an eerily empty Vegas Strip and deserted casino floors.” Time took a deeper dive, looking for the cause of the empty Strip and deserted casinos. The article found that some believe it is the high prices and others think places like Nashville are stealing Sin City’s thunder and customers.
Once again, three million people visited Las Vegas in June; that is not an empty Strip. The $949 million in gaming revenue is not a sign of deserted casinos. Rather, it is a sign of Time’s eagerness to tell a tale, not to understand an issue. Still, there is some truth in both articles. Las Vegas is facing challenges. After years of month after month of record numbers of visitors and revenue, the momentum has stalled. Las Vegas experienced this before, challenged by wars, recessions, pandemics, and yes, even presidential politics. In 2010, President Barack Obama said, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices.” None of those things stopped the progress of the city, ongoing for nearly 100 years.
Regardless of the national economy, Las Vegas has continued to grow. Not every month or even every year, but over the long run, it has grown. That trend presents a dilemma: Nothing can continue to grow, to improve, to produce more. There are limits and no growth trend is sustainable forever. Las Vegas is at a peak and growth from here will come in smaller increments.
In the past, Las Vegas has slowed and stagnated a few times. In 1989, when the Mirage opened, it ended a slump and jump started a new growth period. That is typical of the city; it takes something new to restart growth. Las Vegas gets to a point where all the resorts and attractions have reached a peak and to grow beyond that requires something new, something spectacular. In a city filled with billion-dollar dazzlers, that something is not easily conjured.
Until that happens, the Strip will continue at its current level of visitors, room occupancy, and gaming revenue.
In the meantime, the major operators will have to rethink some of their policies. Over the last few months, the negative articles about Las Vegas pricing and, in particular, resort fees have garnered a great deal of attention and discussion. Several resorts have offered special summer rates, free parking, and no resort fees. However for the Long Game, the city really needs the next wow. Until then, some relief from years of price increases would probably help a little.
