Nevada casinos post 21st consecutive $1B+ month in November; break 2021's record performance

While the month of December has yet to be recorded, Nevada casinos drew in gaming win during the first 11 months of 2022 that already broke 2021’s record performance. The state’s 459 licensed casinos reported $13.5 billion for the period, up 10.2% over the first 11 months of 2021. The record was broken after casinos posted $1.22 billion in gaming win in November.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Thursday that gaming win thus exceeded $1 billion for the 21st consecutive month in November. However, the bad news is 17 of the 20 markets monitored by the Control Board were below November 2021 levels.

Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior economic analyst, said there’s a good reason for numbers to be down from a year ago — November 2021 win totals were the third highest on record for the state and the Strip.

“November of 2021 represented a very difficult comparison for the state and the Strip with $1.3 billion and $755.1 million in total win respectively,” Lawton told Las Vegas Review-Journal. “But through the first 11 months of the calendar year, every major market in the state is up calendar-year-to-date through November.”

The @NevadaGCB has published its Abbreviated Revenue Release for November 2022 (~$1.22 billion): pic.twitter.com/rsYNvVDNF8

— Nevada Gaming Control Board (@NevadaGCB) December 29, 2022

Lawton warned of “tough comparison” possibilities earlier in 2022 when the state hit 12 consecutive months of win in excess of $1 billion. He noted that it would be hard to sustain growth when so many months were at record or near-record levels.

However, the state, driven by Las Vegas’ ability to attract visitation through high-profile entertainment and sporting events, continued to set a high bar for tourists. Lawton cited November as another month in which big special events drew crowds, who also made their way to casinos and dropped a few dollars at slot and table games.

Among those events was Elton John performing at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 1; The Who playing at Park MGM on Nov. 4 and 5; and T-Mobile Arena playing host to a Post Malone concert on Nov. 11. In addition, Adele opened her Strip residency at Caesars Palace on Nov. 18 and Kevin Hart had two shows at Resorts World Las Vegas on Nov. 18 and 19. As for sports, Las Vegas Raiders had only one home game during the month, on Nov. 13.

While gaming win statewide was down 7.6%, Clark County win was off 8.4% to $1.06 billion and the Strip was down 11.3% to $669.5 million compared with November 2021. Downtown Las Vegas declined 0.1% from last year to $82.8 million, after recording a best-ever $90.5 million in October 2022.

Only three markets — Sparks, South Lake Tahoe and Wendover — showed higher numbers in November from a year earlier. And as expected, the state continued to show its reliance on Clark County with 87% of Nevada’s win attributable to the county’s gaming operations.

Lawton said game and table win on the Strip was the primary reason for this month’s decrease with a 27% decline and volumes that decreased 23%. Statewide, slot machine play was the one bright spot for gaming win with declines recorded for table games, including blackjack, baccarat and sports wagers. Slot win of $871.1 million increased by 1.3% over November 2021.

As for sports wagering, Nevada sportsbooks won $37.7 million, down 47.7%, on a hold percentage of 4.1% in 2022 that was down when compared with 6.6% a year ago. The sportsbook handle of $1.1 billion in November 2021 was the second highest on record.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority also announced November’s visitor volume was up 4.9% compared to the same month in 2021. Las Vegas saw nearly 3.3 million visitors during the month, a jump bolstered by convention figures.

The LVCVA reported that the increase was "supported by a variety of events including the Automotive After Market Week and the Raiders vs. Colts home game." Still, the visitor volume was down 7% compared to November 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports KSNV.

Convention attendance was up to nearly 583,000, a jump of more than 45% year-over-year. Room rates also continued to climb, with the average daily rate up to $186.48, a nearly 20% increase compared to last year. Overall hotel occupancy was 81.2%, up 3.6% from November 2021 but down 7% from the pre-pandemic November 2019.

See the full November 2022 report here.