Bolstered by Las Vegas’ highest visitation since the start of the pandemic, Nevada gaming surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the 17th consecutive month in July, marking the fourth highest monthly total in history at $1.31 billion and the second highest ever on the Las Vegas Strip.
It took a record July 2021 to keep last month from surpassing that total. July 2022’s revenue decreased $43 million, a drop of 3.2%, from the $1.35 billion in July 2021, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The July 2022 total, however, was 28.4% higher than July 2019, in a reflection of how strong and resilient the Nevada gaming market has been.
For the first seven months of the year, gaming revenue rose 15.6% versus 2019.
Michael Lawton, the state’s senior economic analyst, said Nevada faced a “very difficult comparison” versus the all-time record in July 2021.
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Strip’s gaming win in July 2021 totaled $792.6 million, also an all-time monthly record, he said. It was $773.3 million in July 2022, a 2.42% decline, but the second highest for any month in history. That total was 42.7% higher than July 2019, according to Deutsche Bank.
Revenues from local Las Vegas casinos in July fell 3.3%, but were 9.8% higher than July 2019, Deutsche Bank reported.
The biggest decline in July was experienced downtown, which recorded $71.1 million in July 2021 and fell 15.6% to $60 million in July 2022.
The strong showing came despite elevated inflation, higher interest rates, and concerns of an economic slowdown or possible recession.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Las Vegas welcomed 3.49 million visitors in July, the most since casinos reopened in June 2020. That number was 5.7% higher than July 2021, but 5.3% below July 2019. That came despite a reduction of drive-in traffic from southern California of 7.3% from July 2021.
“July 2021 set a very high bar in terms of gaming win and although this month’s results decreased year over year, July 2022’s gaming win represented the fourth highest total all-time, while the Strip’s gaming win was the second highest total ever recorded, second only to July of last year,” Lawton said. “When looking at overall gaming activity, this month’s wagering totals for slots and games was $15.1 billion, which was the fourth highest total ever recorded. Demand for gaming still remains strong, customers continue to display resiliency, and leisure travel continues to benefit from a very jam-packed event calendar.”
Among the big events in July was UFC 276 held at T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd with the main event featuring Israel Adesanya fighting Jarred Cannonier. In soccer, Chelsea defeated Club America on July 16 at Allegiant Stadium. On July 22 and 23, Allegiant hosted the inaugural Soccer Champions Tour, which featured matches between Juventus and Guadalajara, in addition to Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Usher began his residency, “My Way,” at the Park MGM on July 20.
Convention business is making strides, but has room to grow. There were 307,100 convention attendees in July, down 5.3% from 2019, according to the LVCVA.
Overall hotel occupancy reached 83.4%, four percentage points ahead of July 2021, but down 7.7% compared to July 2019. Weekend occupancy of 91% was down 6.1% from July 2019. Midweek occupancy of 79.1% was 9.6% below July 2019, the LVCVA reported.
The average daily room rate exceeded $160, 5.5% ahead of July 2021 and 26% higher than July 2019.
Washoe County, which includes Reno and Sparks, reported gaming win of $94.7 million, a 5.26% decline from $100 million in July 2021. South Lake Tahoe reported $31.8 million, a decline of 1.28%. Laughlin recorded a .04% increase to $42.8 million. Mesquite fell .04% to $14.17 million.
Nevada slots won $839.6 million and were down 3.9% ($33.9 million), while coin-in of $12.1 billion was down $133.7 million or 1.1%, Lawton said.
Table, counter, and card-game win of $476.4 million decreased 1.9% ($9.1 million) and games drop of $3.0 billion increased 1.2% from July 2021.
Baccarat win of $138.0 million decreased 13.4% ($21.8 million) and baccarat drop of $833.7 million increased 3.1%. Baccarat’s hold percentage was 16.56% versus 19.71% last year.
Nevada sportsbooks won $16.2 million, down 51.3% ($17.1 million) compared to July 2021, due to a hold percentage of 3.87% versus 8.12% last year. Sportsbook wagers totaled $419.4 million, up 2.3% compared to July 2021, Lawton said.
Sports wagers made with mobile apps won $14.5 million (up 6.3%) on $273.6 million in wagers (up 13.1%), holding 5.3%. This amount accounted for 65.2% of total wagers, he said.
