Nevada’s gaming revenue was down 1.73 percent last month compared to July of last year, dropping to $997,972,643 from $1,015,558,545, according to numbers released today by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The monthly figures are for large casinos with 15 or more slot and/or video poker machines and table games.
Locally, the drop was seen on the Strip, which compared to July of last year saw a gaming revenue decrease of 7.73 percent.
Michael Lawton, a senior research analyst with the Tax and License Division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said table games are to partly to blame for the decrease.
“Slot volume was up 2.8 percent at $3.5 billion and games volume was down 12.2 percent at $1.9 billion,” Lawton said. “Baccarat was the primary driver for games' volume decrease as it was down $154.1 million or 17.1 percent. For the calendar year, slot volume is up 1.8 percent, and games are down 2.4 percent.”
Lawton said revenue from other games — such as blackjack and the sports book — also wasn’t great.
“Overall, we were facing a tough comparison with a billion dollar (win) last July, and the Strip was facing an increase of 16.8 percent last July,” Lawton said. “Usually, $998 million in win is a very good number and on most occasions it would be an increase. So we can’t be too disappointed in this month’s results.”
In the rest of Clark County, revenue rose in July. Downtown Las Vegas saw an increase of 7.84 percent, North Las Vegas’ numbers rose 16.78 percent, Laughlin’s grew 6.78 percent, and Boulder Strip revenue was up 19.34 percent.
While all non-restricted locations must report their revenue at the same time, internally they collect and count their winnings differently, which is why Lawton said, downtown, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip saw relatively larger increases in July.
Also, revenue in Mesquite was up 6.13 percent while the remainder of Clark County was up 8.48 percent.
Lawton said revenue for sports books suffered in July because of the betting favorites covering in baseball.
“It was not a good month for baseball, down 85.7 percent with a win total of $1.7 million,” he said. “It only held 0.94 percent, as the public jumped on the favorites during the month. The first-place teams in their respective divisions had a very good month, and the public was on to it.”
Other parts of Nevada
Reno’s revenue was up 1.75 percent in July 2017 in comparison to July 2016 and Sparks was up 0.71 percent. In North Lake Tahoe, revenue rose 3.65 percent, while the rest of Washoe County saw a revenue increase of 10.21 percent.
Revenue in Elko County was up 8.13 percent and the Carson Valley area saw an increase of 8 percent. Carson Valley numbers include Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden and all other areas of Douglas County except South Lake Tahoe. In South Lake Tahoe, revenue dropped 14.76 percent.
Because of July’s gaming revenue, Nevada collected gaming taxes and fees of $69,150,680 in August. That number went up 1.08 percent, or $738,816, compared to August 2016 when Nevada’s received $68,411,864 from gaming.