Non-gaming amenities have replaced gaming revenues as the primary source of profits for Nevada casinos, which are enjoying record visitations, but less gaming activity.
About 42 million people are expected to visit Las Vegas during 2016, which would be a record year for tourism, but many of them are spending their money seeing shows, dining at restaurants, and shopping, rather than taking their chances on the slots or at gaming tables.
Statewide, Nevada casinos lost $662 million in 2015, despite its 271 casinos generating $24.6 billion in gaming activity last year, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported. Nevada casinos reduced their combined losses by 11 percent last year, after posting a $743.7 million net loss in 2014.
Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip are averaging better than 90 percent occupancy rates, but visitors are spending more money on shows, food and beverage than they are on gaming, leading to the statewide gaming loss last year, according to the Gaming Control Board.
Fortunately, profits from retail, entertainment, and food and beverage offset gaming losses, and kept Nevada’s casino industry stable.
The Gaming Control Board expects 2016 to remain stable, although gaming should continue to lag behind other revenue streams, and might post another loss for 2016.
Yet, some gaming analysts also say the gaming losses are lessening each year, and 2016 could be the first year since the Great Recession that Nevada’s casinos post their first gambling profits in nearly a decade.
