Nevada gaming revenues surpassed $1 billion in January for the 11th month in a row, even in the face of reduced occupancy and group meeting attendance due to the surge of COVID early in the month. The showing bodes well for a strong spring and the remainder of 2022 as forecast by gaming operators during their fourth-quarter earnings calls.
Nevada casinos won $1.078 billion in January, 41.5% higher than January 2021 when it was $761.9 million, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Senior Economic Analyst Michael Lawton said the January statewide revenue total was 9.6% higher than 2019.
The Las Vegas Strip recorded $567.2 million, a 76.4% increase over January 2021 when it was $321.5 million, but it was up only 6.6% over January 2019, Lawton said. Compared to the pre-pandemic month of January 2020, the Strip was down 0.9% or $5.1 million. Additionally, January’s total was the lowest gaming win on the Strip going back to May 2021.
“The Gaming Control Board is pleasantly surprised by these results, considering the considerable headwinds during the month, due to a surge in COVID cases caused by the omicron variant,” Lawton said. “Most notably, the outbreak disrupted group business associated with the Computer Electronics Show on January 5-7. Additionally, the outbreak, along with severe weather across the country, led to thousands of flight cancellations into Harry Reid International Airport, which also negatively impacted foot traffic on casino floors during the first half of the month.”
CES had 40,000 attendees, fewer than expected and down from 170,000 in January 2020.
Reid International handled 3.14 million passengers in January. While up 109% from the 1.5 million in January 2021, that was down 24.2% from 4.15 million in January 2020 prior to the pandemic.
Las Vegas welcomed 2.47 million visitors in January, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That’s 27.5% below the 3.4 million in 2019. The 305,300 convention attendees were down from 683,400 in January 2019.
Overall hotel occupancy in January reached 59.3%, some 27.7 points ahead of January 2021, but 24.7 points below January 2019. In a reflection of the challenged convention segment, midweek occupancy reached 52%, 29.5 points higher than January 2021, but 30.1 points below January 2019. As in the past several months, weekends fared better than midweek as weekend occupancy reached 74.6%, some 26.3 points ahead of January 2021. It was 14.2% below January 2019, according to the LVCVA.
Reaching $145, January’s average daily room rate exceeded January 2021 by 60.1%, but lagged January 2019 by 7.2%. Revenue per room reached $86.12 for the month, about triple January 2021’s depressed levels, but down 34.5% from January 2019, according to the LVCVA. The average Strip rate was $153.84, compared to $90.87 in downtown.
Strip hotel occupancy tailed off in January to 61.2% , down from 85.1% in January 2019. Downtown Las Vegas occupancy was 51.1%, down from 81.2% in January 2019.
Drive-in travel from out of state helped fill rooms while air travel was down. A total of 109,343 vehicles in daily traffic on major highways crossed the border, up 2.3% from January 2019.
Visitation started picking up at the end of the month and continued to grow into February. Gaming operators said bookings (in the mid-80%) have been strong for March with spring break and March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, and group business is expected to return in greater numbers.
Last week with the decline in omicron cases, Gov. Steve Sisolak eliminated the state’s indoor mask mandate, which had been in effect for most of the pandemic. That’s expected to further bolster visitation, gaming operators said. The Centers for Disease Control is expected to loosen mask guidelines as soon as today.
“Strip demand was strong considering the impact of omicron and flight cancellations,” said J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. “Strip table-game drop increased 30% versus January 2019, but this was offset by a tough hold comparison – 11.3% in the month versus 15.1% in 2019.”
Brendan Bussmann, a partner with Global Market Advisors, said the strong showing in January surprised him, as it did others.
“This not only continues to show the resiliency of gaming, but also how the recovery continues to move forward in a meaningful way,” Bussmann said. “With the return of conventions and hopeful return in the near future of international customers, gaming will tend to bode well and hopefully continue growth as inflation and fuel prices are shrinking the leisure customers’ pocketbooks.”
Bussmann said February will be even stronger with the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day weekend on the same “monumental weekend,” and the Pro Bowl and NFL All-Star game the previous weekend.
“One of the things I continue to say is sports can and has proven to be a driver for this state and translates into gaming,” Bussmann said. “It’s one of the few states that gets true economic benefit from stadiums.”
The Las Vegas locals market recorded $237.1 million in revenue in January, according to J.P. Morgan. That’s a 9% increase versus 2019 and 18% over January 2021.
The January calendar was unfavorable with nine weekend days in 2022 versus 10 in 2021, the firm said.
In other statistical breakdowns, downtown Las Vegas reported $67.6 million, a 38.4% increase over January 2021’s $48.8 million.
Growth was steady in Reno where gaming revenue rose 8% to $52.3 million. North Lake Tahoe gained nearly 17% to $2.3 million, while South Lake Tahoe fell 4.4% to $17.06 million.
Laughlin rose 25.8% to $42.1 million.
Nevada sports pools won $50 million in January, down 4.6% ($2.4 million) compared to January 2021. Sports pool hold was 4.5%, compared to 8.10% in January 2021, Lawton said.
Sports pool drop ($1.1 billion) was up 71.7% ($463.5 million). January’s wagering total represented another all-time record, beating the previous record set in October 2021, Lawton said.
Sports books have now recorded more than $1 billion in wagers in four consecutive months. Prior to October, this threshold had never been reached. Lawton said.
Sports books won $15.2 million on $787.7 million in wagers made with mobile apps, holding 1.9%. This write amount accounted for 71% of total wagers.
“For all of those people who said Vegas is dead when it comes to sports betting, look and see what it’s doing here,” Brendan Bussmann said. “The current trend has proven that to be bunk.”
Slot win of $731.5 million in January increased 39% compared to January 2021 and coin-in of $10 billion was up $2.2 billion or 27.3%, Lawton said. For the fiscal year that started on July 1, the state’s slot win has increased 50.3% and slot volume is up 40.8% year over year.
The Las Vegas Strip’s slot win increased 75.2% in January with a 66.4% or $1.5 billion increase in coin-in compared to January 2021. For the fiscal year, the Strip’s slot win has increased 98.1% and coin-in has increased 83.4%.
Table, counter, and card games won $347.3 million, an increase of 47.5%, and games drop of $3.1 billion increased 60.8% from January 2021, Lawton said. For the fiscal year, games win increased 75.3% and drop was up 63.6%.
The Las Vegas Strip’s games win increased 77.9% and drop increased 83.9% in January. For the fiscal year on the Strip, games win is up 107.5% while drop has increased 83.4%.
For January versus January 2019, Strip baccarat win decreased 34%; hold was 8.9% versus (17.3% in 2019, normalized 13-14% range). Baccarat drop was 29% higher. Strip baccarat win increased 122% with drop up 105% and hold up 70 basis points, according to J.P. Morgan.
