Comments (17) | Add a comment
Gaming revenues decline almost 9 percent in September
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Nov. 10, 2009 | 1:09 p.m.
Here are the silver linings found in a nearly 9 percent decline in statewide gaming revenues during September, Nevada’s 21st straight monthly decline:
• Casinos in the state collected $911.1 million during the month, the first time since March the gaming win exceeded the $900 million mark.
• On the Strip, gaming revenues of $506.4 million were off just 3.58 percent from a year ago, the lowest monthly decline on the Strip in 15 months.
• High-end players -- big spending international customers gambling on baccarat Ñ dropped $835.4 million at the tables, 46.2 percent more than a year ago. The casinos held $98.5 million, a 30.4 percent increase.
• The amount gambled on slot machines statewide fell 6.9 percent in September, the first time that figure was below double digits this year.
OK, that’s all the good news we have for you.
The recession, which has greatly reduced discretionary spending by consumers over the past 18 months, has been the major reason for Nevada casinos’ suffering their worst revenue drought since the state began keeping monthly statistics nearly three decades ago.
“We haven’t hit bottom and we’re not out of the woods by any means, but there are some positive signs,” Gaming Control Board Tax and License Division Chief Frank Streshley said Tuesday after the agency released September’s monthly figures.
In August and September, high-end play started to come back. Casinos companies such as MGM Mirage said during recent quarterly earnings reports that they were seeing a spike in international customers. Bellagio, for example had one of its best-ever quarters for baccarat wagering. MGM Grand had its third best quarter ever for international marketing.
“Today’s numbers reflect similar sentiment from third-quarter earnings that high-end play is holding up well, with mass-market play weaker,” Susquehanna gaming analyst Robert LaFleur told investors after the Nevada figures were released.
Streshley said that without baccarat, the Strip’s gaming revenues would have declined by 9 percent.
Jacob Oberman, director of gaming research for CBRichard Ellis, said the recovery of the Chinese and Hong Kong economies, along with the weak dollar, bodes well for increased international visitation.
“The impressive year-over-year growth in the quarter is likely signaling a trend that we are on our way back toward record levels,” Oberman said in a report to clients. He said next month’s opening of the $8.5 billion CityCenter could further fuel increased international visitation.
High-end action is a doubled-edged sword when it comes to monthly gaming tax collections.
Because high-end play is mostly handled on credit, gaming taxes aren’t collected until the markers are paid.
As such, September’s gaming revenues translated into a 14.56 decline in the gaming taxes collected by the state. Nevada collected $54.3 million during the month, compared with $63.5 million a year ago.
“We usually see the taxes collected in the ensuing months,” Streshley said.
Through September, gaming revenues statewide and on the Strip are both down 12.4 percent compared to the same nine months in 2008.
Other areas of Clark County suffered much deeper declines during September than the Strip. Boulder Strip casinos were down 28 percent, the balance of the county was down 20 percent, while Mesquite and Laughlin both recorded 12 percent drops.
On a whole, Clark County was down 9.3 percent.
Streshley and Wall Street analysts have said the locals markets will recover slower than the Strip because of unemployment, currently 13.9 percent in Clark County, and the sagging housing market.
Once Strip casinos show some marked recovery, there will be a tickle-down effect to the locals market; jobs will get filled, tips will become more plentiful and locals who rely on the gaming industry will kick up discretionary spending.
Every reporting area in Nevada was down compared to a year ago. Washoe County recorded its 27th straight monthly decline.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.
Trending topics:
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Recipe for disaster:
Add $300 a night rooms weekend with some $150 weekdays.
Stir in some clubs that charge $50 just get in the door after waiting 2 hours.
Chop up some $150 show tickets.
Whip up some $60 entrees with $100 wine and a pinch of $40 appetizer.
Now mix that all together and then toss in some rotten VP. Bake for 2 years and top off with a pile of 6:5 BJ.
Let simmer on low until tourist is cooked to a crisp.
Serve with a big batch of recession.
ROGER, THANK YOU. AT LEAST YOU CAN SEE THE PROBLEMS OF PUTTING ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET, AND THAT MAKES YOU A VISIONARY. MY CONCERN ABOUT THE FUTURE HAS ME WORRIED FOR MY CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN. WE AS A STATE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ONE OF THE PLACES PEOPLE LOOK TO FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND GAMING. THIS STATE ABOVE ALL OTHERS SHOULD HAVE A LOTTERY, AND IT SHOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHERS. MY THOUGHT AND IT IS JUST A THOUGHT AND MAYBE YOU MATH WIZARDS CAN HELP ME WITH THIS. A LOTTERY THAT HAS 20 I MILLION DOLLAR WINNERS AS OPPOSED TO 1 20 MILLION DOLLAR WINNER. WHAT ABOUT THAT? IT'S TIME THAT THE STATE HELP US WITH TAXES AND THE HOTELS FEND FOR THEMSELVES. THE GREAT STATE OF NEVADA, THE SILVER STATE HAS BECOME GOLDEN AND NEEDS SOME FORSIGHT INTO OUR FUTURE. THE IDEA OF NEWER AND DIFFERNT BUSINESS CAN ONLY HELP. IT'S ALWAYS A STRUGGLE TO GROW, BUT IF DONE RIGHT WE CAN ALL HAVE A FUTURE
Mike Vegas has got it right. The gaming industry and casinos have joined the global economy just like all other industries. However the problem is that many of these local casinos are the ones expanding into foreign lands and states. (Wynn nacau, etc.) When I spoke months past that casinos are diversifying their business and the city should do the same by bringing in other businesses other readers told me I dont know what I am talking about. Well let's wait and see.
Will be interesting to see the effects on existing properties and their gaming take, once City Center opens and begins to canabilize other MGM properties as well as others who will incur higher vacancy rates, lower gaming takes, and fewer taxes paid. City Center won't compensate for other properties room rates reaching a new low. Las Vegas will be on sale next year at bargain prices never seen before. Mike Vegas has it right.
Hey Jimmy, my wife yells at me every day but I don't blame it on Obama.
I was in vegas in September I stayed at Hooters The Maid yelled at My girlfriend my sister and I. I complained to management. They did nothing. It was terrible. In Obamas depression you would think they would be nice not rude
I VOTED REPUBLICAN AND I'M AMAZED THAT EVERYTHING IS THE DEMOCRATS FAULT. IT REALLY DOES PROVE THAT IGNORANCE IS BLISS. I SALUTE ALL THE NOT RESPONIBLE FOR ANYTHING REPULICANS OUT THERE.
VEGAS ONCE WAS IT'S OWN LITTLE ISLAND IN THE DESERT, BUT THOSE DAYS ARE GONE. PEOPLE CAME FOR THE FUN, GLITZ AND GLAMOUR, AND THANKS TO HOWARD, MAYHUE, AND THE BEAN COUNTERS IT ALL CHANGEDAND FOR THE WORSE NOT BETTER. WE NOW SEE THE RESULTS OF GREED. THE RESTAURANTS WERE OWNED BY THE CASINO AND FOOD WAS CHEAP, SUBSIDIZED BY GAMING. ROOMS WERE CHEAPER THAN ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY, SUBSIDIZED BY GAMING. PEOPLE WERE TREATED BY PEOPLE WITH COMPS AND PERKS THAT MADE VISITORS FEEL SPECIAL. NOW THE GREEDY CASINOS RENT OR LEASE SPACE FOR RESTAURANTS. LETS TRACK YOUR GAMING WITH CARDS AND IF YOU GAMBLE ENOUGH WE'LL GIVE YOU YOUR CHOICE OF SOME CRAPPY CHINESE MERCHANDISE. I'VE GOT A SECRET FOR THESE MAJOR CASINOS AND THAT IS YOUR NOT THE ONLY GAME IN THE WORLD. THEY SPEND MILLIONS ON ADVERTISING TO BRING PEOPLE TO VEGAS, WHEN EVERYBODY KNOWS THE CHEAPEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING IS WORD OF MOUTH. IE; HEY I HAD A GREAT TIME IN VEGAS, THE ROOMS WERE CHEAP, I WON A LITTLE, AND WE SAW A GREAT SHOW, I'M GOING BACK NEXT YEAR. IT'S A SIMPLE FORMULA AND WINNERS BREED MORE PLAYERS AND MORE PLAYERS GENERATE REVENUES. THE POWERS AT HAND ARE SENDING PLAYERS TO CLOSER CASINOS AND MAYBE THIS DOWNFALL WILL WAKE THEM UP. BRING BACK THE FUN, THE POLITENESS THAT MAKES PEOPLE FEEL SPECIAL AND KNOCK OFF THE KNOCK'EM DOWN AND GET EVERY DIME THEY'VE GOT MENTALITY AND THINGS WILL CHANGE. HERE'S AN IDEA, GET HARRY AND THE HOTELS ON BOARD WITH MAKING I-15 A 10 LANE SUPER HIGHWAY AND PEOPLE WILL COME. IF I HAVE A THREE DAY WEEKEND I DON'T WANT TO SPEND 14 HOURS OF IT IN THE CAR