For the second straight month, Nevada casinos recorded a gaming revenue decline that marked the state’s lowest percentage dip following June’s casino reopening after a 78-day shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Las Vegas Strip, however, is another story.
The Gaming Control Board said Tuesday that casinos statewide collected almost $771.2 million in gaming revenues during November, a 17.75% decline compared to the same month a year ago when casinos brought in $937.5 million.
Through 11 months, statewide gaming revenues are down 34.5% from 2019 when Nevada casinos collected $12 billion.
Las Vegas Strip casinos saw gaming revenue fall 32.46% in November to almost $349.8 million, which is reflective of the reduced capacity restrictions and COVID-19 health and safety protocols implemented during the pandemic. A year ago, Strip casinos collected $517.9 million.
Through November, Strip gaming revenues totals are down 42.6%.
November is traditionally a busy month for Strip casinos, culminating with the four-day Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend. However, with airline passenger volume down almost 57% during the month, the Strip saw business levels decline significantly.
Also during November, Gov. Steve Sisolak reduced the maximum occupancy on casino floors and other gaming areas to 25% due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Nevada.
Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon said the capacity limits added to the down month on the Strip. He said concerns going into December, with the crowd-drawing National Finals Rodeo having relocated to Dallas for 2020, “portend a slightly less bullish financial outlook” for Strip operators’ fourth-quarter results. Beynon said he expects Strip revenue totals to be down 50% to 60% for all of the three month period.
Slot machine revenues on the Strip were down 29.2% and wagering was off 33.4%. Baccarat revenues – a high-end game that often drives Strip gaming numbers – were down 45.3%. Table game revenues excluding baccarat were off 32.1%.
Gaming Control Board Senior Research Analyst Michael Lawton said gaming revenues in Nevada are down 25.8%, or $1.6 billion, since the June casino reopening. Strip casinos, however, are down $1.4 billion or 40.8% for the same period.
“(The Strip) accounts for 87.1% of the decrease, Lawton said. “Excluding the Strip, the State is down 7.4% since June.”
There were a few bright spots in Southern Nevada’s Clark County, which includes the Strip. Downtown Las Vegas casino saw revenues grow 1.74% to almost $53 million. The numbers included the first full month of casino operations from Circa Casino Resort, which opened its gaming floor at the end of October.
Casinos on the Boulder Strip, which includes properties in the city of Henderson, grew gaming revenues 18.2% in November to $66.6 million.
It was a mixed bag for the state’s reporting markets. Reno casinos saw gaming revenues decline 6.2% but casinos on the south shore of Lake Tahoe reported a 23.75% increase. Casinos in the balance of Washoe County – which includes communities outside of Reno – grew gaming revenues by more than 50.7%.
For the state, October’s 19.5% decline was the state’s lowest monthly drop since the pandemic closed the casino industry for 78 days starting in March. Casinos revenues were down more than 99% in both April and May.
Sports betting
Nevada sportsbooks collected a single-month record of $61.8 million in revenue during November, an increase of 99.3% compared to a year ago. Lawton said the revenue from football wagers totaled $56 million, which was also an all-time record.
During the month, sportsbooks took in $609.6 million in wagers, which was down less than 1% from a year ago. Football betting accounted for $502 million of the total.
“November had an extra Sunday which was a catalyst for football betting activity, in addition to the fact that not competing with hockey and basketball,” Lawton said.
He added that the two sports would normally be playing during the month and was “a contributing factor to the record football number in November.”
Mobile sports wagering accounted for 56.4% of all the bets taken during the month.
Las Vegas visitation
Las Vegas visitation fell 56.8% in November to more than 1.5 million guests due to increasing COVID-19 cases across the country, tighter travel restrictions, and stay-at-home orders in the latter half of November, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Through November, Las Vegas visitation is down 54.5%, which includes a 72.6% drop in convention and meeting attendance. For the eighth straight month, Las Vegas chalked up a zero for convention attendance as capacity restrictions eliminated meetings and conferences.
Meanwhile, total occupancy for Las Vegas was 39.3% for the month with weekend occupancy coming in at 55.4% and midweek occupancy at 32.4%. The declines in midweek business caused several Strip resorts to cease operations except on weekends.
Average daily room rates were $94, a decline of more than 30% from a year ago. Revenue per available room was $37, a decline of 69% percent from November 2019.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
