Nevada gaming revenue grew more than 7.5 percent in April to $953.7 million, snapping a three-month streak of more than $1 billion in monthly statewide casino collections.
The Gaming Control Board said Thursday the Las Vegas Strip saw revenue increase 5 percent to $499.5 million, despite a 17.6 percent decline in baccarat revenue, which is often the determining factor in the location’s results.
Non-baccarat table game revenue grew 17 percent on the Strip.
Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski told investors the results reflected a “healthy” blackjack volume, an increase in slot machine play, and higher hold percentages in roulette and slot machine winnings.
Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the control board, said the statewide story for April focused on other games. Slot revenues were up 10 percent on a 2 percent increase in volume. Blackjack revenue climbed 8 percent on a 17.8 percent increase in play, and roulette revenue jumped 68 percent.
Nevada’s sportsbooks collected $16.3 in revenue during April, an increase of 7.5 percent, which included $8.6 million from wagers on basketball and $6.5 million on baseball betting. Total volume for sports betting was $324.5 million in the month, up 12.2 percent.
Hockey wagering, which would include bets taken on the Vegas Golden Knights, are factored into the category of “other sports,” which recorded a 53.2 percent increase in wagering volume. Lawton said the state is considering breaking out hockey into a separate category like basketball, baseball and football.
Meanwhile, Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon told investors the non-gaming revenues produced Golden Knights’ eight NHL playoff games at the T-Mobile Arena – part-owned by MGM Resorts International and located behind the New York-New York and Park MGM on the Strip – should offset the negative impact from the cancelation in May of Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin championship fight.
Beynon added that weekday playoff games offset “a thinner convention slate.”
In Las Vegas, visitor volume grew less than 1 percent in April to more than 3.54 million tourists, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Lawton said that gaming revenue in every major Nevada market is up for the first 10 months of the fiscal year. On a whole, the state is up 2.91 percent.
Statewide in April, gaming revenue grew in almost every market. Washoe County in Northern Nevada was up 1.8 percent, despite relatively flat year-over-year results from Reno.
“Washoe County has had 12 consecutive monthly increases,” Lawton said. “The market is cooking.”
Added Wieczynski, the Washoe County results “further supports our constructive views on the Reno market as a whole.”
Clark County, which includes the Strip, grew revenue 8.1 percent to $825.3 million. Downtown Las Vegas revenue was up 15.6 percent, North Las Vegas grew 15.3 percent and the Boulder Strip – which includes Henderson – was up 22.7 percent. The numbers reflected a healthy increase in the Las Vegas locals gaming market.
“Gross gaming revenue comparisons … benefitted from significantly higher slot hold, as compared to the prior year,” Wieczynski said. “Even after taking the higher slot hold into account, we are encouraged … as we believe it reflects a continuation of the relatively healthy prevailing Las Vegas locals revenue environment.”
For the first 11 months of the fiscal year, gaming tax collections – excluding the effect of tax credits – are up 3.4 percent.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
