Nevada casinos reach 11th $1B+ month streak in January despite Omicron outbreak

As the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Friday, Nevada casinos set new records in January, which became the 11th straight month of $1 billion or more in house winnings, while topping early 2020 results. Properties in the state won nearly $1.1 billion in the first month of the year, an increase of nearly 42% from January 2021, and up 4% compared to the first month of 2020, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the state’s regulator, the area of Clark County took the lead, having won $928 million in January 2022, which represents a 50% rise in contrast with the same period in 2021; with Las Vegas Strip being the hotspot, earning $567 million out of that total. 

Board senior analyst Michael Lawton referred to these results as “a pleasant surprise” during a month that saw a new spike in COVID-19 cases due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, AV Press reported. 

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has published its Abbreviated Revenue Release for January 2022 (~$1.1 billion): pic.twitter.com/glBWGFtqp1

— Nevada Gaming Control Board (@NevadaGCB) February 25, 2022

Tourism has reactivated in the state, as Harry Reid International Airport officials reported monthly passenger traffic more than doubled from a year ago, despite coronavirus surge and airline flight cancellations caused by severe weather across the US. 

Visitor volume and hotel occupancy had been increasing in late 2021, but dropped in January, according to a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority report. 

Lawton also pointed to a drop in attendance at the CES gadget show, which saw less than 50,000 attendees this year, when it drew 170,000 people in 2020.

The Strat

When reporting its Q4 2021 numbers, Golden Entertainment also remarked a visitation drop during the final quarter of the year. However, it managed to see record revenue of $1 billion, and The Strat accounted for 62% of Nevada’s growth in that quarter. 

Despite the drop in state-wide visitation, the property’s revenue rose 90% and EBITDA increased more than 5 times from Q4 of 2020, with an improvement of 77% in room occupancy, which was 43% more than the same period in 2020. 

As for the state, back in December, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported an all-time record $13.4 billion in gambling revenue in 2021, with casinos earning $1.15 billion during the last month of the year, which represented a 68% increase in a year-over-year comparison.