Nye County gaming operators and owners experienced a slight dip in gaming win this fall.
An August report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the most recent available, showed a slight dip, less than 1 percent, in gaming revenue by operators in the Nye area, in comparison to the same time a year ago.
Gaming establishments in the county brought in more than $4 million in August and were down 0.96 percent from August 2017.
This is the second month in a row that gaming establishments in the Nye area have seen a drop; in July, gaming operators and owners saw a dip of nearly 3 percent in gaming revenue when compared to the same time a year earlier.
The news isn’t all negative for gaming groups across the county.
Gaming operators and owners in Nye County experienced an increase of 1.33 percent over a three-month period that ran from June through the end of August; that’s in comparison to the same time a year earlier. Gaming establishments in the county brought in over $12 million in gaming revenue in that period.
A much larger gain was apparent over a 12-month period starting in September 2017 and running through the end of August, which showed gaming establishments in Nye increasing revenue by 6.49 percent and collecting gaming revenues of over $51.8 million. This analysis compares the 12-month period that ended in August to the 12 months just prior to that time, Sept. 1, 2016 to Aug. 31, 2017.
Statewide numbers
In comparison, Clark County gaming operators and owners experienced a decrease of 10.2 percent in gaming win through August, when compared to the same time a year earlier. The county’s gaming establishments brought in $756.1 million in gaming revenue for the month.
The decrease in revenue was not surprising to some.
“This month we were facing an extremely difficult comparison with the Strip being up 21.35 percent last year,” said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the administration division of the Control Board, in a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Last year’s increase was driven in part by a very successful fight between Mayweather and McGregor. As a result, we are disappointed but not surprised by this August being down 12.4 percent on the Strip.”
Gaming numbers were also down across the state in August, compared to the same time a year ago. Gaming establishments brought in $913 million over $989.5 million in August 2017, a decrease of 7.7 percent
Using a three-month picture of revenue in the state, reports from the Control Board show that gaming establishments were down 1.45 percent from the start of June through the end of August 2018. This is in comparison to the same months in 2017.
Lawton told the Review-Journal that analysts were closely watching the “three-month trend.”
“We are anticipating that this is a short-term trend affecting the third quarter,” Lawton said.
Wins and losses
In Nye County, the 18 reporting licensees experienced a decrease of 29 percent in the table, counter and card games category in August, according to the Control Board.
The area with the biggest drop in August for gaming revenue came from bingo, which decreased by over 64 percent over the same time a year earlier.
Other entries under the table, counter and card games category for Nye County also had double-digit decreases in gaming win in August, as compared to a year ago. Twenty-one (blackjack) was the only entry in that category to experience an increase in August with a gain of 19.72 percent in August.
The slot machine category for Nye gaming establishments showed a slight gain (0.42 percent) in August, though several types of slots were down in revenue compared to a year earlier, including dollar machines (86.12 percent negative) and Megabucks (23.01 percent negative). Nickel slots brought in over 196 percent more than the same time a year earlier, according to a report by the Control Board.
Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com