Nongaming revenues rule on the Vegas Strip
Nevada’s casino industry lost nearly $1.35 billion during fiscal 2013, according to a new report from the state Gaming Control Board. It’s the fifth year in a row that the Silver State’s leading industry has posted losses.
The report tallies both gaming and nongaming revenues from casinos that gross more than $1 million in gaming revenue. In fiscal 2013, which ended June 30, a total of 263 casinos were included in the report, according to ABC News.Casinos statewide generated a net loss of $1.348 billion during the period, compared to 2012, when they lost $1.212 billion.
Despite the losing streak, there was good news in the annual report, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Total revenue rose for the third consecutive year, to $23 billion. That’s a boost of 0.4 percent from 2012, or $99.2 million.
Elko County’s 18 casinos saw $42.7 million in total net income for 2013, the highest of all the counties in the report. Even so, that’s down 9.4 percent from this time last year. And total revenue was down 1 percent, to just over $390 million.
Washoe County casinos reported a profit of $719,000. Five casinos on the south shore of Lake Tahoe had a net loss of $90 million, while the Carson Valley Area that encompasses Carson City and parts of Douglas county netted $7 million, the Review-Journal reported.
The 150 gaming halls in Clark County had a combined net loss of $1.3 billion on total revenue of $20.6 billion. But gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip hit $5.7 billion, up 3.5 percent from 2012. And the Strip’s total revenue of $15.5 billion rose 1.7 percent.
“It’s a positive for the Strip,” said Mike Lawton, senior analyst for the Gaming Control Board. “Revenues increased and the net loss decreased.”
Notably, 2013 was the 15th year in which Strip gambling revenue made up less than 50 percent of all revenue, continuing the emphasis on nongaming activities like shopping, dining, nightclubbing and other attractions.
While statewide casinos’ losses spiked by 11.2 percent or $136 million, Lawton said that can be attributed in part to increased expenses.
The last time Nevada’s casinos realized a net profit was in 2008, when they were ahead by $721.1 million. Not surprisingly, the industry saw its biggest net loss in 2009, at the bottom of the Great Recession, when the casinos lost almost $6.8 billion.
