Nevada’s 296 casinos with $1 million and higher in gaming revenue generated $4.1 billion in net income during the 2022 fiscal year, the greatest amount in history, according to a gaming abstract released Thursday by the Gaming Control Board.
The previous record of $2.9 billion was established in the 2020 fiscal year, which starts on July 1 and runs through June 30 of the following calendar year.
The 2022 figure is also a sharp contrast to the $206.4 million net loss in fiscal-year 2021 when the industry suffered the effects of the pandemic.
In FY 2022, net income aided by room and food and beverage revenue amounted to a 15.6% return on total revenue compared to a decline of 1.3% in 2021.
“Nevada’s largest industry continues to excel, adapt, and rebound out of the pandemic and show signs of growth heading into 2023, even with the headwinds of economic uncertainty,” said Brendan Bussmann, a casino consultant and managing partner with B Global.
Every market statewide, with the exception of South Shore Lake Tahoe that was impacted by wildfires, recorded improved net income compared to FY 2021, according to Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst with the state of Nevada. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, net income improved $2.1 billion or 100.7% and every market statewide, except South Shore Lake Tahoe and Laughlin, recorded improved net income.
The positive net income was due to revenues totaling $26.4 billion, which increased by $10.2 billion (63.5%) compared to 2021, when pandemic-related restrictions severely impacted total revenue, which was $16.1 billion, Lawton said.
The $26.4 billion in revenue represents the second- highest total, 2.7% below the all-time record of $27.1 billion set in fiscal year 2018. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, total revenue increased $1.8 billion or 7.4%. Every market statewide recorded total-revenue increases compared to 2019, with the exception of Laughlin.
Gaming revenue accounted for 40.5% of total revenue, which was down from last year’s 52.4%, Lawton said.
The casinos on the Las Vegas Strip posted net income of $1.8 billion, second highest all time compared to the $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2020. That compared to a net loss of $1.95 billion in fiscal year 2021. Net income increased 74% or $773.1 million compared to 2019.
The Strip accounted for 87.1% of the state’s $4.3 billion improvement to net income in 2022.
The total revenue generated in all departments on the Strip was $17.3 billion, second highest all-time after 2018’s $18.3 billion. That corresponds to a 98.3% or $8.6 billion increase from the previous year, Lawton said.
Total revenue increased by 4.5% or $744.1 million compared to fiscal year 2019. The Strip accounted for 83.1% of the state’s $10.2 billion increase to total revenue in 2022.
Gaming revenue from the Strip casinos totaled $5.2 billion, up $1.6 billion (45.7%). Gaming revenue increased by $748.4 million (16.7%) compared to 2019. Gaming revenue accounted for 30.2% of total revenue, which is less than last year’s 41.1%. This was the 24th year in a row that gaming revenues made up less than 50% of all revenues, Lawton said.
Room revenue totaled $5.2 billion and increased 128.7% or $2.9 billion versus 2021. This represents the second highest total all-time, down 0.3% or $15.1 million from the record high set in 2019.
The Strip occupancy rates increased from 52.2% to 82.9%, with the average daily room rate of $196.37 up 30.9% from $150.07 in fiscal year 2021. The ADR is the highest ever recorded, beating the previous high of $185.03 set in 2020, Lawton said.
Strip food revenue totaled $2.8 billion and increased by 168.7% or $1.8 billion from last year. That’s down 6.3% or $191.8 million from 2019, when the all-time record was set. Strip beverage revenue set an all-time record with $1.4 billion and increased by 119.2% or $779.3 million versus 2021. It was up 4.3% or $58.5 million from 2019.
Other revenue totaled $2.556 billion and increased by 125.7% or $1.4 billion, down 6% or $144.1 million from 2019.
Overall, Strip room, food, beverage, and other accounted for 69.8% of total revenue, up from their combined share last year of 58.9%. Non-gaming revenues totaled $12 billion and increased $6.9 billion (135.1%) versus 2021. Fiscal-year 2019 non-gaming revenue set the all-time record at $12 billion, beating this year’s total by 0.03% or $4.2 million.
The number of locations generating $1 million or more in gaming revenue statewide decreased by six from 302 in 2021 to 296 in 2022. In FY 2022, 56 casinos owned by public companies accounted for 67.8% of the total gaming revenue generated statewide.
The average number of employees increased 19.7% from 111,416 in 2021 to 133,412 in 2022. There were 162,066 total employees in 2019.
