Nevada gaming revenue down 3.2 percent in January

10 March 2010

By Howard Stutz

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Nevada casinos collected $883.3 million from gamblers in January, a 3.2 percent decline in statewide gaming revenues, the Gaming Control Board announced this morning.

A year ago, statewide gaming revenues were $912.7 million.

On the Strip, gaming revenues were $495 million, a 3 percent decline compared with $510.4 million collected a year. The drop was the Strip's first reported gaming revenue decrease in two months. The upswings in November and December ended 11 straight monthly declines.

On a whole, Clark County gaming revenues fell 2.2 percent in January with casinos along the Boulder Strip reporting the only reporting area increase, $69.9 million or a jump of 13.6 percent compared with January 2009.

Gaming revenues downtown fell 2.1 percent while gaming revenues in North Las Vegas were relatively flat in a year-over-year comparison. The Balance of Clark County segment, which includes much of the locals market, saw $89.7 million in gaming revenues, a decline of 2 percent.

The one bright spot in the report was gaming tax collections, which increased almost 27 percent based on the statewide revenues generated in January. State gaming taxes were $59.7 million, compared with more than $47 million a year ago.

For the first eight months of the fiscal year, gaming tax collections are down 1.6 percent from a year ago.