A perfect storm of positive events has boosted the state’s gaming revenue over the past year, including one more weekend day in 2022 than 2021 and a robust calendar of sports and entertainment events.
Nevada’s casinos set an all-time record with $14.8 billion in gaming winnings for 2022, though they surpassed 2021’s record $13.4 billion in November, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The board also reported on Tuesday that the state’s 434 licensed casinos won $1.31 billion from players, up 14.3 percent from December 2021 and 24.3 percent from December 2019. It was the 22nd Month in a row with profits of more than $1 billion.
Meanwhile, strip casinos reported a record monthly profit of $814.2 million, up 25.1 percent year-on-year and the largest percentage increase among the 20 state markets overseen by the Control Board.
According to Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior business analyst, numerous records have been broken despite six major casinos closing permanently and only one new casino opening in 2022.
Gone from the casino landscape are Station Casinos’ Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho, Fiesta Henderson and Wild Wild West on Tropicana Avenue west of Interstate 15. Other closures include Terrible’s in Jean and the Tahoe Biltmore in northern Nevada.
The only new casino to open in the past year was Legends Bay Casino in Sparks.
Breaking Records
Among the records broken as a result of the big month of December:
– Every market statewide recorded gains in calendar 2021 except Boulder Highway, which declined 0.1 percent. The only markets not up from pre-pandemic 2019 were North Las Vegas and Laughlin, down 4.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
– Ten of the state’s submarkets recorded all-time gaming winning amounts in 2022, excluding North Las Vegas, Boulder Highway, Laughlin, Washoe County, Reno and the north and south shores of Lake Tahoe.
— The strip accounted for most of the nationwide increase in December, with the state’s markets outside the strip up just 0.2 percent year-on-year.
– Players sunk $5.8 billion more into slots on the Strip in December, more than any month in history.
— The Strip’s December slot machine winnings were $405.1 million, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier. Table game winnings on the Strip totaled $409.1 million, up 49.9 percent from a year ago.
Lawton cited a number of events over the past month that helped boost the win, such as the Pac-12 football championship game between the University of Southern California and the University of Utah at Allegiant Stadium on December 2; Raiders home games against Los Angeles Chargers on December 4 and New England Patriots on December 18; and UFC 282 with the light heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev at T-Mobile Arena on December 10.
The city also hosted the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center December 1-10, and comedian Adam Sandler performed December 9-10 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
All game results higher
Casino games of all kinds were on the rise across the state.
Slots earnings of $803.5 million increased 2.2 percent year-on-year in December, and coin revenue increased $1 billion, or 8.8 percent, to $12.6 billion. the highest in state history.
Table game winnings of $511 million increased 40.5 percent from December 2021, with the decline – the amount wagered – increasing 5.8 percent to $3.4 billion.
Baccarat earnings for December rose 68.7 percent to $148 million, with the year-on-year decline increasing 20.3 percent to $3.4 billion. Casinos played luck with baccarat hold percentage in December 2022 of 17.3 percent, compared to 12.3 percent in the previous year.
Sporting surprises also gave casinos an edge last month.
Sportsbooks in Nevada won $55.2 million, up 245.9 percent from December 2021 with a 6.3 percent retention percentage compared to 1.6 percent a year earlier. Players wagered $880.5 million, down 13.1 percent from December 2021. Mobile sports betting totaled $604.1 million, down 21.6 percent, and accounted for 68.6 percent of all bets.
Strip performance impresses
For the year, gaming winnings at the Strip’s 61 licensed properties reached a record $8.29 billion, a 17.2 percent increase from 2021’s $7.1 billion. Compared to calendar 2019, increased the game win by 25.8 percent.
The strip market accounted for 55.8 percent of total statewide profits, up from 52.7 percent in 2021. The highest percentage to date was 58.4 percent in calendar 2013.
Strip slot winnings of $4.59 billion in 2022 increased 15.1 percent year-on-year, after a 99.2 percent increase in 2020. Compared to 2019, slot winnings increased 33, 3 percent, an all-time record that surpassed 2021.
In 2022, strip coin-in was a record $56.39 billion, up 16.7 percent from 2021, after a 91.9 percent increase in 2020. The record coin-in surpassed the previous high from $50.91 billion in 2007.
Revenue from strip table games last year was $3.7 billion, a 19.8 percent increase from the previous year – an all-time record that surpassed the previous peak of $3.6 billion set in 2013 64 .5 percent.
Gaming industry analysts were impressed with the Strip’s performance but noted that local gambling had declined 1.7 percent.
JP Morgan analyst Joe Greff said in a Tuesday report to investors that the calendar affects sales calculations as fewer days contribute to the total.
“We note the month’s unfavorable calendar impact and comparisons – the LV Locals slot win from Saturday 31st December 2022 is moved to January and compared to 2019 the slot win from last Saturday and Sunday in the Moved from November to December (i.e. minus one day in 2022 versus plus two days in 2019),” his report reads.
“For the month, slots profit is down 1.7 percent from 2019 levels, with grip up 9.4 percent, and slots profit is down 60 basis points to 5.5 percent, vs. one Average of 6.2 percent over the past five years.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at [email protected] or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on twitter.