Nevada Gaming and Control Board has confirmed hitting $1 billion in gaming revenue for the 19th consecutive month. This report comes after getting the final total revenue generated during September 2022. If this continues for the remainder of the year, Silver State could look at another record-breaking year.
Michael Lawton, an economic analyst at Nevada Gaming Control Board, told Forbes that he was confident this year's total revenue could surpass last year's. Lawton hopes the gambling industry will continue generating over $1 billion monthly gaming revenue even in 2023.
The senior economic analyst noted that the state would have to see a 20 percent drop in gambling not to hit the $1 billion mark in October. He insisted that nothing could contribute to such a drop, hoping the $1 billion streak would continue. The state generated $1.2 billion in gaming revenue in September.
While Lawton hopes the gaming revenue will continue to snowball, he agrees that all markets will face challenging comparisons in the coming months. He expects the gambling industry's growth rate to slow down.
Yet, the Las Vegas gambling market is 4.7 percent yearly over 2021. The Silver State has posted over $11 billion in gaming revenue in nine months. This is a 13.2 percent boost from what it made during the same period last year.
The state generated $1.2 billion in September, 8 percent more than last year. Notably, this was an 18 percent increase from the pre-pandemic 2019.
Slot Machines Generated the Most Revenue
Slot machines are pretty popular, making them the preferred casino games. They require little to no skills to play, hence attracting a bigger player base. As such, slot machines generated the most revenue in September.
Slots generated over 70 percent of the total revenue, bringing the total revenue to over $800,000. They also generated 10 percent more compared to last year, with multi-denominated machines producing $447 million.
Blackjack is the most popular table game in Nevada. It produced over $86 million, 6 percent less than September 2021 production.
Baccarat came in third after generating $80 million in September. Overall, there was a 4 percent increase in table games revenue, which stood at $384 million in September.
Nevada sportsbooks also did well. They generated around $70 million, a 30 percent increase from September 2021. With a hold percentage of 9.30 percent, generating $70 million in September was a walk in the park.
Last year, the hold percentage was at 6.90 percent in September. Yet, the total betting handle for September 2022 dropped by 3.3 percent to $760 million compared to September last year.
Las Vegas Accounted for Over Half the Revenue
Casinos and sportsbooks on the Las Vegas Strip generated 55 percent of the total gaming revenue. Reports show Strip casinos generated $693 million in September, an eight percent increase from September 2021. This brings the total revenue generated by Strip casinos to $6.1 billion, 22 percent more than last year.
Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Strip casino numbers resulted from many sporting events in Sin City in September. These include the Life is Beautiful music festival, Las Vegas Raiders` home opener, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight card, and the Championship boxing match.
Yet, Las Vegas generating more money than other counties is not unusual as the Strip has been contributing largely to the increased revenue even in past years.
