Figures for March reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board revealed that statewide “win,” or revenue, was down 11.61% compared to the same period in 2008. Total revenues amounted to $918 million during the month.
The famed Las Vegas Strip, which includes such poker-friendly hotels as the Bellagio, Venetian, and Wynn, saw casino revenues dive amid the global recession by 12.26% in March to $456 million. Downtown Las Vegas, which is home to the High Stakes Poker Season V set at the Golden Nugget, experienced a relatively benign 2.26% drop in win, while North Las Vegas saw gambling revenues actually grow in March by 9.73% to just less than $32 million. It was the only year over year growth in revenue reported by the Gaming Control Board in March. Laughlin’s gambling win fell by 8.29% to $51 million, while Mesquite experienced the largest decline statewide, a 29.20% slip to $12 million. Rounding out Clark County was the Boulder Strip, which reported a 4.05% decline in revenues.
During the current fiscal year, which began back in July of 2008, statewide revenues in Nevada are off by 14.21% to $8.2 billion. On the Las Vegas Strip, revenues have fallen by 14.60% year over year during that time period. Downtown, revenues have dropped by 16.15% during the fiscal year. Respectively, the two areas of Sin City have recorded $4.3 billion and $414 million in gaming win during the current fiscal year. The largest fiscal year over year drop occurred in Mesquite, where $99 million in revenue now is 18.99% less than it was the year before.
In Washoe County, which includes Reno, gambling win was $64 million, off by 23.29% year over year. In the “Biggest Little City in the World,” revenues in March were off by 26.22% to $46 million, trailing last year’s tally of $62 million. In Sparks, which also makes its home in Washoe County, gambling win was down by 14.69% to $11 million. In North Lake Tahoe, revenues plummeted by 23.61% to $1.8 million and the balance of the county saw an 11.72% fall in March. For the fiscal year to date, business in Washoe County is off by 13.73% to $655 million.
In South Lake Tahoe, revenue in March fell by 34.07% year over year, the largest drop of any area reported. Revenues landed at $19 million for the month, down from over $28 million during March of 2008. Over the fiscal year to date, South Lake Tahoe’s revenues are down by 15.07% to $212 million. In Elko County, revenues in March slipped by 12.98% to $24 million, while the Carson Valley Area saw a slide of just 6.58%. The latter includes the towns of Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and other Douglas County gaming locations except South Lake Tahoe, which is reported separately. The Carson Valley Area has seen revenues during the current fiscal year dive by 8.88% in comparison to the previous period.
The State of Nevada collects fees from casinos in April based on revenue totals in March. Last month, that amounted to a take of $74 million, which was off by 8.69% in comparison to last April’s total of $81 million. Fee collections in March, which are based on February’s gaming win numbers, were actually up 22.60% after sliding 42.27% during the previous month.
The 11.61% decline in statewide revenues marks the 15th straight month that win has fallen year over year. The last time that gaming win grew was in December of 2007. Here is an overview of the month-by-month results since:
March, 2009: (11.61%)
February, 2009: (18.12%)
January, 2009: (14.62%)
December, 2008: (18.94%)
November, 2008: (14.80%)
October, 2008: (22.33%)
September, 2008: (5.44%)
August, 2008: (8.10%)
July, 2008: (12.97%)
June, 2008: (1.11%)
May, 2008: (15.17%)
April, 2008: (5.05%)
March, 2008: (1.52%)
February, 2008: (3.93%)
January, 2008: (4.75%)
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest gambling revenue results from Sin City.
