Las Vegas Strip Casino Revenue Slows, Follows 2024 National Trend

Posted on: February 29, 2024, 12:49h. 

Last updated on: March 1, 2024, 11:19h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

In January 2024, Las Vegas Strip casinos experienced their first monthly revenue decline since June 2023. But Nevada casinos elsewhere made up the difference to still post a gain to kick off the new year.

Las Vegas Strip casino revenue Nevada
Casino win on the Las Vegas Strip began 2024 slowly, as gaming revenue declined almost 4% from January 2023. Strong play elsewhere in Nevada made up for the Strip losses. (Image: Getty)

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) reported Thursday that Strip casinos won $686.1 million in January, a 3.8% year-over-year drop.

Table games were to blame, as gross gaming revenue (GGR) from the felt fell 15% from January 2023. Blackjack, craps, and roulette all reported double-digit year-over-year losses.

Baccarat was a rare increase, with win from the game popular with Asian players improving by 7%. Strip slot machines reported a 3% uptick in GGR to $400.7 million, but those gains weren’t enough to bridge the table struggles.

The Strip’s January GGR falloff followed a trend experienced across much of the U.S. January brick-and-mortar casino declines were felt in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, and Maryland, among others.

Along with slots, sports betting last month was a bright spot for the Strip. Oddsmakers along S. Las Vegas Blvd. won $28.5 million to increase their hold by 35% from a year ago.

January Record

Though the most important gaming market in the world saw win slow in January, Reno and locals’ casinos in Clark County surrounding Las Vegas and elsewhere in the state managed to propel Nevada’s gaming industry to a January record.

Downtown Las Vegas casinos won about 1% more money, taking in $85.7 million. Laughlin GGR climbed 4% to $44.4 million, and Mesquite gaming was up 0.5% to $15.8 million.

The balance of Clark County, encompassing rural casinos like the newly opened Durango, saw casino win surge nearly 11% to $169.3 million. Douglas County win climbed 5% to $18.2 million.

Presumably linked to better weather in January, casinos in Washoe County, home to Reno, grew GGR by 36% to $86.5 million.

When all of the state’s metered gaming markets were added up, January 2024 GGR came in just shy of $1.28 billion. That represented a 0.5% premium on January 2023 and marks a new high for the first month of the year.

January 2024 also maintained Nevada’s streak of winning at least $1 billion from gamblers. The run has now extended to 35 months, with the last month that GGR was less than 10 digits coming back during the COVID-19 pandemic.

February Forecast

The Strip’s January cooldown, some market observers believe, could have been due to some travelers delaying their post-December holiday travel plans from January to February. That was done to be in town when the Super Bowl made its debut in Las Vegas.

Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, hosted Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, February 11.

January 2023 represented a very difficult comparison, as the Strip was up 25.7% over January 2022. Furthermore, it would be a safe assumption that after an extremely active November and December, customers deferred trips from January to February for the Super Bowl,” explained Michael Lawton, the senior economic analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Lawton also cited the fact that the Chinese New Year fell in February this year, which likely further impacted the Strip’s January showing.

Harry Reid International Airport reported reduced passenger numbers in January. Las Vegas’ primary air hub facilitated 4.34 million arriving and departing passengers, a nearly 1% decline.