Record gaming revenue for Las Vegas

Record gaming revenues were reported in Nevada and the Las Vegas Strip in July as Resorts World Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium opened and other casino resorts reopened.

The month 3.3 million visitors to Las Vegas, the strongest attendance yet during the Covid-19 pandemic. The records were set before Nevada reinstituted a mandatory indoor mask mandate, which became effective on July 30 to combat growing infections.

However, in earnings calls in late July and early August, casino operators from the Strip to locals-based properties indicated that they didn’t expect this to slow business in the future.

July was the fifth consecutive month Nevada has surpassed $1bn in gaming revenue. It recorded $1.35bn, up from $1.19bin in June and $1.23bn in May. The last time this occurred was December 2007 to April 2008, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

More impressive, however, was the Strip’s $793.7m in gaming revenue in July, a 46.5 per cent increase over July 2019, prior to the pandemic, when it was $541.8m. This exceeded the prior high, set in February 2013, by almost $100m.