Nevada Gambling Proceeds Under $1bn in April, Baseball Reaches New Highs

The gambling community across the United States has turned its attention to Nevada this week, since its gaming revenue for April didn’t reach the financial forecast, cashing in $936.6 million instead of attaining a previous $1 billion per month. The reason behind it? Sports betting!

According to the official report, total revenue dropped 1.8% year-on-year, with slots still making up the majority of proceeds (in the vicinity of $658.8 million). Other casino verticals, including table, counter and card games also saw a decrease in revenue by 5.8% or $277.7 million in total.

Sports betting, on the other hand, has recorded a financial surge of 32.7%, estimated at $328.1 million (the biggest surprise was supposedly NCAA’s March Madness tournament, which severely benefitted the numbers in April).

Of course, most Americans engaged into betting on baseball, reaching a new high of $10 million, followed by NBA’s $7.8 million contribution. Football fans also didn’t reach the casinos’ expectations, since they made a loss of $4.8 million in this vertical.

Clark County and Vegas Main Contributors

Another important indicator regarding Nevada monthly revenue is that Sin City (Las Vegas) and Clark County cashed in the largest share in April, approximately $808.6 million or 86.3% in total. However, the numbers do not match with last year’s proceeds from the same period, whose $825.3 million is now down 2.0%.

You may , the Silver State reported a boost in revenue for baccarat by 50% back in December 2018, sustaining a stronger fiscal volume for casinos on the Strip. Last April, a control board senior research analyst, Michael Lawton, commented on this phenomenon and assessed the current situation:

“The culprit for this month’s slight decline was baccarat win, which totaled $53.6 million and was down 54.3 percent. Volumes were down significantly compared to last year. Excluding baccarat, the state would have increased 6.9 percent in total win.”

Another gaming analyst, Carlo Santarelli, has also pointed out the importance of the baccarat wager total, in which the continuous rise is definitely ‘changing the climate in the desert.’ He told investors:

“We continue to believe the high-end gaming declines will have a greater impact on flow through than most appreciate in the first quarter. Still, the results from baccarat could reflect on the numbers for MGM Resorts International when the company reports earnings in the period.”

Santarelli also warned that the fiscal situation could be “challenging in May, despite a favorable calendar comparison.”

Nevertheless, the latest forecast should secure a positive trajectory in June, as many analysts firmly believe in the local Vegas economy, especially now that the weather has finally improved.

Source:

“Nevada monthly revenue falls below $1bn for first time in 2019”, Robin Harrison-Millan, igbnorthamerica.com, May 30, 2019.

“Nevada’s casino industry experiences a revenue decline for the third straight month”, Howard Stutz, cdcgamingreports.com, April 25, 2019.