Published: 16.03.2020, 19:06
4 min read
What better way to ring in the new decade than to celebrate at the slot machines? Many gamblers seem to be of the same opinion – in fact, despite the spread of the coronavirus, Nevada saw a significant boom in total winnings amongst its 440 licensed casinos in January of 2020. The win percentage was up 5.5% from January of the previous year; this brought the total aggregated winnings up to $1.038 billion. And, this isn’t just a one-time fluke.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has published a report that contains data provided by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NCGB). According to the statistics in the report, this is the eighth time in the past year that Nevada’s aggregated winnings exceeded $1 billion. Furthermore, annual revenue at this point in the fiscal year is up by 2.57%, which is $7.091 billion.
Clark County, the county in which Las Vegas resides, has been enjoying an impressive growth of total winnings. Las Vegas has 20 downtown venues, which saw a combined growth of 13.47% ($59.11 million) compared to January of last year. The Las Vegas Strip showed a slightly smaller gain of 7.49% ($572.125) million amongst its 51 licensed venues. There are 215 gambling premises in the entirety of Clark County, and the total county’s win is up 5.07% from January of last year – which is a gain of $904.553 million.
January’s booming revenue has been a win-win situation for both the casinos and the players; the former are benefitting from the uptick in business and expanded profits, while the latter are experiencing an increase in their monthly wins. The wagers placed on roulette, mini-baccarat, blackjack, and craps rose in January, and each of those games (except craps) had a higher win ratio.
The NGCB released data showing that baccarat winnings had grown by 17% (although total wager volumes had grown by 67.3%). Additionally, statewide slot winnings had grown by 2.2% in January – for a massive win payout of $672.5 million!
Michael Lawton, the Senior Research Analyst of the NGCB, was impressed by January’s revenue success, especially when compared to last year’s statistics. However, he noted that this uptick in business could have been affected by Chinese New Year celebrations.
In 2019, Chinese New Year took place in February; however, this year it was celebrated during the week of January 25th. It is traditional for Chinese families to gamble together during Chinese New Year; it’s believed that the new year ushers in a swell of good luck, so it’s a fun way to enjoy that newfound luck together. Some families stay at home to gamble and play cards, while others may visit a casino as a group activity or in a junket – for instance, they might swing by one of the many casinos in Las Vegas.
So, it makes sense that at least a small part of the impressive growth of Nevada casinos was due to the Chinese New Year. That being said, nearly every month of the year has some sort of holiday or reason why people may choose to gamble. So, it may be unwise to assume that January’s successes were mainly due to people celebrating Chinese New Year.
Sports Gambling and Mobile Monitoring
January was also a groundbreaking month for Nevada casinos for another reason besides revenue: this was the first month in which the NCGB began to monitor the results of sports bets made on mobile devices. This may be due to the fact that New Jersey had passed Nevada in sports gambling revenue during a few months out of the previous year. This new implementation of mobile monitoring means that Nevada will be able to track exactly how much they rake in for sports – including ice hockey, which they had previously not been accounting for.
Sports betting makes up a significant chunk of Nevada’s casino revenue, so it only makes sense that the NGCB is looking for ways to keep better track of it and related trends. In fact, Lawton stated that $245.8 million worth of sports wagers were placed on mobile apps in January, of which gamers won $11.2 million. This amount made up 49% of total wagers across the board.
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Nevada’s Growing Tourist Appeal
One final factor that influenced January’s success was the tourist appeal of Southern Nevada. Despite the coronavirus beginning to spread in areas of the world, visits had increased by 3.9% compared to January of last year. Convention attendance had also risen by 4.9%! The total number of visitors to southern Nevada in January alone was 3.545 million, which was backed up by growth in hotel occupancy. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority provided data that January’s hotel occupancy was 1.9% higher than the previous year – however, the average room rate was 2% lower. On average, nightly hotel costs in Las Vegas during January of 2020 was $153.40.
It is wonderful that tourism has grown so much during the first month of 2020, but we will see what happens now that the coronavirus has been labeled as a pandemic by the WHO. On the one hand, now that the virus is spreading in the United States, people may choose to stay at home rather than going out to gamble. On the other hand, domestic flights to Las Vegas are quite cheap at the moment.
