Nevada casinos have created more than $6 billion from wagers in the last six months. August marked the state’s sixth continuous month reporting gross gaming revenue (GGR) of at least $1 billion.
Last month, revenue from bettors totaled $1.165 billion. That is 57% more than August 2020, when the Nevada gaming industry struggled with numerous operating restrictions due to COVID-19.
Clark County, location for the Strip and downtown Las Vegas, reported a GGR of $993.4 million, a better than 67% year-over-year gain. Strip casinos won $625.7 million of wagers’ bets, nearly double the amount they collected in August 2020.
August’s gains followed a record-setting July, where Nevada casinos collected $1.35 billion. That is the best highest monthly gaming revenue number in the state’s 90-history of legal sports betting.
“Nevada continued to record gaming win amounts above pre-pandemic levels in August, with $1.2 billion in the win. This was up 22.3% over 2019,”
elaborated Michael Lawton, the Nevada Gaming Control Board senior research analyst.
Lawton credited some special events during August for the gaming figures, including the United States vs Mexico finals for the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Allegiant Stadium, along with two Cirque Du Soleil shows that reinstated to the Las Vegas Strip.
Lowton noted,
“Strong demand across markets, federal stimulus, the continued rebound of leisure travel, and the return of special events and entertainment continued to propel gaming win past 2019 levels.”
As outlined by The Nevada Independent, Well Fargo gaming analyst Daniel Politzer regarded the Strip’s good opportunity carried into the Las Vegas local market, which also secured some calendar benefits with August starting on a Sunday.
Call it a comeback
August wrapped up the unofficial summer end. And following a year where travel was strongly discouraged or banned, a popular release for repressed demand among Americans was touring Las Vegas.
The summer met and exceeded numerous expectations. Domestic travel to Southern Nevada continues to increase towards pre-pandemic levels, and casino resorts recorded high bookings throughout the summer.
The last six months have been great for Las Vegas. In December, Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Bureau stated tourist total remained down 64% from December 2019. Moving to July, the visitor volume was down 10% from the same month in 2019. Hotel booking has increased almost 42% during that time frame, too. The LVCVA is yet to reveal the August tourist volume.
More visitors are also arriving in Southern Nevada using air means than they were only six months ago. Last month, Las Vegas’ major air center, McCarran International Airport, served 3.8 million passengers, down 14.1% from August 2019. However, it is more than double the 1.7 million passengers that the airport served in August 2020.
Vegas streaking
In his August commentary, Lawton said that Nevada’s six-month run of casinos winning up to $1 billion is the second-highest streak in state history. He reveals that the record is eight months, which the state set between October 2006 through May 2007.
Through eight months of 2021, Nevada casinos are currently 7.8% ahead of where they were at this time in 2019. Nevada GGR surpassed $12 billion in casino revenue that year. The state has only eclipsed the $12 billion mark three times, the others coming in 2006 ($12.62 billion) and 2007 ($12.84 billion).
The significant winning total came despite the reimposing of indoor face mask mandates for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals due to the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant. The report shows the state recorded $74 million in revenues based on the August monthly winnings.
Nevada’s gross gaming revenue of $7.8 billion in 2020 was the state’s lowest annual win since 1997.
Last Updated on by Ryan
