The Las Vegas Strip numbers were the highlight of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) report, but not for good reasons. The Las Vegas Strip’s October GGR (gross gaming revenue) of $692 million was a 3% decrease from the previous year.
This is the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines for the gaming capital of America, which had its best year in 2023. Year-to-date, the Strip is down more than 6%.
Las Vegas Strip slots revenue ($428.3 million) was up 5.5%, but table games (-14.5%) struggled again in October.
Baccarat revenue, which became a boom-or-bust category that drove records last year, plunged 23.4% to $68.7 million. Strip has dropped 33% in play over the past three months.
October was the worst month on the Las Vegas Strip
Downtown Las Vegas had the worst month of all Southern Nevada markets. Its GGR of $86.8 million was an 11% drop from last year. Other nearby markets with declines included North Las Vegas (-3.7%), Laughlin (-6.8%), and Boulder Strip (-2.6%).
Thus, its October GGR was US$164.5 million, a 10% jump compared to the previous year. This segment grew 11.5% year-to-date, easily the best in the state.
So with the exception of South Lake Tahoe, whose GGR of $20.8 million was the largest increase of any market tracked by NGCB (+18.7%). All other northern regions fell year over year.
All of Washoe County reported decreases, with Reno dropping the most at $68.1 million. This represents a 3% decline, but despite this, the market is still stable year-to-date.
Carson Valley is also more or less stable, both month-to-month (+1.8%) and fiscal year-to-date (+1.1%). To the northeast, Elko County reported a GGR of $31.7 million, which represents a 6.4% annual decrease.
Tough October for Nevada Sports Betting
If the abundance of GGR reductions wasn’t enough, state sports betting also saw sharp declines. State sports betting GGR was $28.9 million, down 57.5% from last year. Mobile betting GGR was $18.7 million, down 46.4% year over year.
The Las Vegas Strip recorded $13.3 million in sports betting GGR, down 50% from last year. Its mobile GGR of $6.2 million was also a decline of more than 40%.
For Las Vegas and the state as a whole, football betting has been disastrous. The state recorded $9.6 million in GGR from football betting, down nearly 80% year over year, with similar results ($4.5 million, -76.8%) for the Las Vegas Strip.
In short, the NFL’s poor results in October were bemoaned in Q3 calls from traders across the industry.
