Nations Casino's Record Highest Revenue Levels Ever
Nevada has produced its share of gaming revenue records this year, 2021, so it stands to reason that the American Gaming Association (AGA) is indicating commercial gaming revenue nationwide will reach its highest level ever this year. And that’s without all of the numbers from November in and nothing yet from December. The AGA affirmed that more than $44.15 billion has been collected by the nation’s 987 commercial casinos so far in 2021. Several states reported their November revenue figures in the last week. The previous record, set in 2019, was $43.65 billion. One of the states expected to have strong results — Nevada — won’t report November figures until the end of this month, with December revenue to be reported at the end of January. Ten out of 25 states with commercial casinos saw quarterly revenue records in July, August and September, including the four highest-grossing commercial gaming states in 2019: Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. On the Strip, gaming revenue also hit an all-time high of $2.06 billion. The record was driven, in part, by the steady return of tourism. 9.2 million people visited Las Vegas in the quarter, a nearly 10 percent increase over the second quarter and the highest quarterly visitation level since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. “With brick-and-mortar gaming setting records, the expansion into new verticals, and domestic and international tourism recovering, the industry is in a strong position for a full recovery,” Miller said. “I’m confident that the return of meetings, conventions and international travel will further accelerate gaming’s recovery in 2022.” “The biggest question remains on how long this will be sustained, especially considering some parts of the industry still are in recovery mode while under record revenues,” he said. “The industry will need to continue to revisit in the experience to continue to provide a strong product under the continued health and safety measures." “Areas like Las Vegas still will see a bump when conventions fully return and the international customer is able to return on a regular basis,” Bussmann said. “Those will likely see bumps with the omicron variant of COVID-19) in the short term but the opportunity for long-term recovery is strong.”
