Nevada Gaming Control Board: March Gaming Revenue Sank Nearly 40%

Gaming revenues for March in Nevada, the gambling focal point in the US, slumped 39.6% year-on-year as a result of the casinos closure that had been in effect, the Nevada Gaming Control Board pointed out.

The state-wide order to close down casinos as part of the non-essential businesses that needed to halt operations to help state government in its effort to contain the further virus infection spread, adversely affected gaming revenues.

$400 Million of Revenue Lost

March figures showed the magnitude of the impact of the ongoing health risk mitigation measures on the gaming industry, where revenues slumped 39.6% compared to the same period the year before, to $618.1 million, from $1.02 billion posted in March 2019.

The biggest slump posted sports betting, where total wagering receipts to the amount of $141.2 million showed the vertical sank 76.3%. All professional sports leagues, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL, have decided to halt competitions, followed by the NCAA, leaving online sports betting operators with nothing to offer nationally.

The suspension of the top five football leagues in Europe, as well as the mass cancellation of major sports events around the globe, orphaned sports books offerings even further. Despite, mobile betting managed to contribute to $88.9 million, but not enough to stop sports betting from plummeting more than 95% year-on-year.

Table, counter and card games, as well as slot machines, also posted drops in revenue, from 59%, $149.5 million, for the former, to 30.6%, $468.7 million, for the latter.

Impact Varies by Location

The Las Vegas Strip businesses posted 45.7% year-on-year drop, to $299.9 million, with table, counter and card games being down 55.5% and slot operations decreased 37.1%, $114.9 million and $185 million, respectively.

Elsewhere, casinos in Reno posted $22.4 million and in South Lake just above $9 million, 55.2% drop in revenues for the former and 43.1% decline for the latter.

Overall results for the first quarter of 2020 showed statewide gaming revenues down 10.6%, with Strip properties gaming revenues down 12.4% and Washoe County that includes Reno 8.3% decrease.

Expectations for April revenue-wise are for further slump, as throughout the whole month casinos were closed and, besides horse racing in Australia and table tennis in Eastern Europe, there was nothing much to offer in terms of sports betting.

The state governor’s order will soon expire and there is no clarity whether it will be extended, or if casinos will be among the first tier of businesses to be phased in. Discussions between the state regulator and casino operators are already underway as to how to proceed with re-openings while maintaining some of the risk mitigation measures, including introducing new ones.