Nevada casinos take in record $1.23bn in May
Nevada’s gambling industry has set a new record for revenue in May – a month when many casinos still had capacity limits due to Covid-19 countermeasures.
US.- Nevada’s casinos set a new record for revenue in May, together taking $1.23bn. The figure makes May 2021 the highest single-month revenue yet, breaking the previous record of $1.17bn set in October 2007.
It bodes well for casinos’ recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, especially considering that in May many casinos still had capacity restrictions, which were only lifted across all venues from June.
Nevada casinos’ revenue has topped $1bn for the past three months in a row and a following a clear upward trend.
Visitation and hotel occupancy rates still have quite some way to go to match 2019 levels, but in May, 2.9 million people visited Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That’s an increase of nearly 12 per cent from April.
Hotel rooms were about 71 per cent occupied on average, with weekend occupancy climbing to 88 per cent.
According to Michael Lawton, a senior analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, May’s casino revenue was driven by record revenue of $358.3m from slot machines on the Las Vegas Strip, and also strong baccarat revenues.
Casinos on Las Vegas Strip took $655.5m, up nearly 27 per cent from the same month in 2019.
Statewide, operators of sportsbooks took in $477.4m in bets, up 50 per cent from May 2019 and won $27.1m , up 140 per cent from the same month two years ago (in 2020 venues were closed).
May gambling revenues generated $107m in tax revenue for the state of Nevada. Casino taxes are second only to sales tax as a percentage of Nevada’s annual budget.
