Nevada gaming revenues dip 26% in February

Statewide, casino revenue in February was $772.4 million, according to numbers released Thursday by the Gaming Control Board.

Michael Lawton, the control board’s senior research analyst, said February was a difficult comparison, considering the calendar had one less weekend day in addition to last February being a leap year.

Las Vegas Strip casinos saw revenues decline 41.5% to $348.4 million during a month that Lawton said was “materially impacted” by the lack of international travel, which softened the traditionally busy Chinese New Year holiday.

Baccarat revenues in February declined 56.3% and baccarat wagering was off 57.9%. Excluding baccarat from the total, the Strip’s gaming would have decreased 38% year over year.

The Strip’s challenged gaming revenue total accounted for 91.6% of the state’s total decrease, Lawton said.
Southern Nevada had some of the highest gaming revenue declines during the month, including a 30.8% decline in Laughlin, a 12.2% drop in North Las Vegas, and a 7.1% dip in downtown Las Vegas. Reno gaming revenues were down 13.7% to $49.8 million.

Casinos statewide were operating under capacity restrictions of 25% early in February due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The limits were lifted to 35% toward the middle of the month. However, large events were not allowed and many non-gaming options, such as shows and other entertainment, were closed.

There were a few bright spots in the state, mostly in Northern Nevada. South Lake Tahoe casinos saw revenues increase 15.8% while casinos in unincorporated areas of Washoe County grew revenues by 22.4%. Casinos in the Carson Valley market reported a 6% gaming revenue increase.

For the first two months of 2021, gaming revenues statewide are down 25.9%, the Las Vegas Strip is down 41.6%, downtown Las Vegas is off 7.1% and Washoe County is down 8.6%.

Sports betting

Nevada’s sportsbooks took in $31.8 million in revenues, a decline of 16.3%. However, sports wagers increased 12.7% to $554.3 million, an all-time record for the month of February. Betting on the Feb. 7 Super Bowl was $136.1 million, the fifth-highest ever for Nevada sportsbooks.

Sports betting on mobile apps accounted for 57% of all sports wagers in Nevada and the overall total of $316.2 million was a 44.4% increase compared to a year ago.

McCarran Airport numbers
Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport saw a 58.2% decline in passenger volume during February compared to a year ago. The Clark County Aviation Department said Thursday the airport saw more than 1.6 million passengers during the month, compared to more than 3.8 million a year ago.

International airline passengers were down 96.8% during the month, which reflects continued COVID-19 restrictions to and from locations outside the U.S. For the first two months of the year, McCarran’s passenger volume is down 61.1%.