Nevada casinos, aided by all-time record slot win and June records for sports betting volume and revenue, continued their recovery, as visitors came to Las Vegas in greater numbers. Locals-based properties and downtown Las Vegas, which set an all-time revenue record, led the way.
The state has now recorded $1 billion in gaming win in four consecutive months. The last time this occurred was January-April 2008, according to Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Every market segment increased over June 2019, with the exception of the Las Vegas Strip, which fell 1%, even though it set an all-time record for slot win and Resorts World Las Vegas opened on June 24th.
Despite that strong showing, the unanswered question is whether the recovery will continue in the face of the state’s continued rise in COVID-19 infections. Nevada has reimposed a mandate for all people, including casino guests, to wear masks indoors starting tonight at 12:01 a.m. The state dropped the mask mandate in mid-May after it went into effect the first time in late June 2020.
“This is another disheartening step backward, when we should be focusing on continuing our recovery,” said MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle in a letter to employees, whom he encouraged to get vaccinated. “In addition to the heart-wrenching thought of more illness and death, I fear that progressively more restrictive measures, including a return to social distancing and capacity restrictions, could be around the corner if we continue on this path. This would be a significant blow to our community, industry and economy.”
Casinos returned to 100% capacity in May after being as low as 25% earlier this year.
The Nevada gaming win of $1.19 billion in June was lower than the $1.23 billion in May, but the state ran ahead of June 2019’s pre-pandemic numbers by 14.6% when revenues were $1.04 billion. Nevada casinos grossed $566.8 million in June 2020, after they reopened from the pandemic shutdown on the fourth of the month.
The Strip recorded $610.5 million in revenue in June, a slight decline from the $616.5 million in June 2019. It was $238.2 million in June 2020. The reason the drop versus 2019 was reduced baccarat play. For the month compared to June 2019, J.P. Morgan reported baccarat win decreased 75%, partly due to the low hold of 6.5% (versus an elevated 20.9% in 2019; normal is 13%-14%). The baccarat drop decreased 18% from June 2019.
Excluding baccarat (versus June 2019), Strip monthly gaming revenues increased 24% to $571 million, with volumes that were 17% higher. For the 2Q21 (versus 2Q19), revenues increased 18% with volumes up 15%, J.P. Morgan reported.
In a note to investors, J.P. Morgan pointed out that the Strip’s gross gaming revenue in June was down 7% compared to May, while locals casinos increased 4% compared to May.
“Results for the month reflect continued pent-up demand, especially in the Las Vegas locals market, comporting to commentary from Boyd Gaming and Red Rock Resorts on recent earnings conference calls,” J.P. Morgan said.
In Clark County, the gaming win was $1.01 billion, a 12% increase over the $906.6 million in June 2019. It was $441 million in June 2020.
Downtown and locals casinos fared the best. Downtown, which got a boost from the opening of the Circa Resort & Casino in fall 2020, saw revenues of $79 million, a 51.5% increase over the $52.1 million in June 2019. It was $23.1 million in June 2020. June’s total beat the all-time record of $76.3 million set last April, Lawton said.
Locals’ casinos, which are part of the Balance of Clark County category, reported $147.5 million in revenue in June, a gain of 48.5% over the $99.3 million in June 2019. It was $73.4 million in June 2020.
Deutsche Bank broke down the casinos frequented by local residents as being up 42.9% over June 2019. It was up 4.4% compared to May. By comparison, Strip gross gaming revenue was down 6.9% compared to May, according to Deutsche Bank.
Reno’s gaming revenue of $64.5 million was up 26.6% versus 2019.
Statewide slot win of $868.1 million increased 120.2% ($473.9 million) versus June 2020 and was up $231.6 million (36.4%) versus June 2019 (compared to -38.1% for June 2020 and +7.31% for June 2019), Lawton said.
This again represents the highest total in state history, eclipsing the previous record of $840.6 million set last month, Lawton said. The previous record was $779.6 million set in October 2007.
Statewide slot coin-in ($11.4 billion compared to June 2020 at $7 billion and $9.5 billion in June 2019) was up $4.5 billion (61.8%) and $1.9 billion (19.7%), respectively. The slot win percentage was 7.62% versus 5.60% in June 2019.
Las Vegas Strip slot win of $376.8 million was up 34.4% or $96.4 million versus June 2019. It was the largest slot win total all-time for the Las Vegas Strip beating last month’s record $358.3 million.
Las Vegas Strip slot coin-in ($4.3 billion versus June 2020’s $1.9 billion and $3.6 billion in June 2019) was up $2.4 billion (130.7%) compared to June 2020 and increased 20.9% or $747.2 million over June 2019. The slot win percentage was 8.72% versus 6.04%, Lawton said.
Sports pools won $29.2 million, up $12.6 million (76%) versus June 2019, Lawton said. Sports pool drop ($545.2 million) was up 597.0% ($467 million) versus June 2020 and up 69.3% ($223.2 million) versus June 2019.
Both win and volume are all-time records for the month of June. For the year, sports pool handle is up 31.9% versus 2019 and win is up 56.2% versus 2019, Lawton said.
Sports betting was aided by the NBA playoffs going later into the summer and the European football championship.
Sports wagers made with mobile apps won $14.7 million on $314.6 million in wagers, holding 4.7%, Lawton said This amount accounted for 57.7% of total wagers, he added
Visitation picked up in June with 3.8 million passengers going through McCarran International Airport, up from 3.5 million in May; it was the highest traffic count since the reopening from the pandemic, though it was 14.3% below the 4.4 million in June 2019. The May passenger count at 3.5 million was 23.3% below May 2019.
Domestic passengers made up for the loss of international travel. There were only 53,000 international visitors in June, down from 327,000 in June 2019.
Overall, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 2.97 million visitors in June, up from 2.87 million in May. That number is still down 17.6% from June 2019 when there were 3.6 million visitors. The difference is attributed to the fact that conventions are just starting to return; there were more than 500,000 convention attendees in June 2019.
Travel from California was up 6.1% in June compared to May and 10.1% compared to June 2019. A daily average of 53,833 vehicles crossed the Nevada and California border.
Hotel occupancy rose to 75.9% in June, up from 70.9% in May. It was 91.7% in June 2019. The weekend occupancy was 89.4%, up from 87,8% in May, but down from 96.4% in June 2019. Midweek occupancy was 70.9% compared to 62.8% in May and 89.7% in June 2019.
The average daily Strip room rate was $134.71, which was 4% higher than $129.49 in June 2019.
