Vegas News January 24, 2023

New Casino Revenue Report

The 2022 Nevada Gaming Abstract was released last week. This report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board includes all income and expenses for Las Vegas casinos from the last fiscal year. The report covers July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.

You can see the massive report here and the official press release here. 

The report is chock full of revenue information for casinos throughout Nevada. However, the vast majority of casino revenue comes from Las Vegas – specifically the Vegas Strip.

This is an interesting part of this report since that’s where most visitors stay, play, drink, dine and see shows.

Gaming – Nevada Saw Huge Revenue Increases

Overall, Nevada saw huge revenue increases. The Vegas Strip accounted for more than 80% of the gains. As Las Vegas returns closer to normal visitation after the peak of Covid-19, the money spent in casinos also returned to a typical pattern.

Non-gaming revenue from food, drink, hotel rooms, etc. accounted for almost 70% of overall gaming revenue at casinos on the Vegas Strip. In fact, hotel rooms generated more revenue than casinos won from players during the previous fiscal year (page 44). 

Gambling revenue was also closer to normal with slot machines at the top spot followed by traditional table games. Sports betting accounted for less than 3% of gaming revenue on the Vegas Strip. This number was slightly higher in downtown Las Vegas.

Easy To Consume Report

I recommend skimming the full report if you’re curious about the numbers. You can find an easy-to-consume overview of the info here.  

I’ll probably dive deeper into the report to see if I can uncover anything surprising over the weekend. Let’s get to the rest of the news in and around Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Quick Hits

• You thought the day would never come but it looks like the sportsbook could finally be opening at Virgin/Mohegan. Read about Betfred here.
• Downtown Grand opened a new Caesars Sportsbook this week. The previous operator was William Hill. Caesars now owns that company. I’ll have more information on the new space next week.
• Down the street from Downtown Grand, Fremont Casino recently opened a new sportsbook. It’s operated by Boyd and is branded with FanDuel, which operates Boyd sportsbooks outside of Nevada. This is a retail-only sportsbook so don’t look for a FanDuel NV app.
• Guy Fieri’s Flavortown is replacing the old Burger Brasserie from Paris Las Vegas. This part of the hallway is now part of Horseshoe Las Vegas. The restaurant is located next to the new sports betting counter. Horseshoe dumped its sportsbook for an arcade last year. Read about the Fieri joint here and see the sports betting counter here. 
• Artisan is being reinvented as Lexi. Read more here.
• Lexi says it will be cannabis-friendly but that may not happen. Read more here. 
• Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is bringing his rock music collection to downtown Las Vegas. I’m told this traveling memorabilia show is excellent. Read more here.  
• Blake Shelton’s Ole Red broke ground outside of Horseshoe. It should be open by November. Read more here.  

• The Lovers & Friends festival with Mariah, Pitbull, Missy, Luda, and a million more rap and R&B performers is coming to Las Vegas in May. Read more here.  
• Wynn is now offering “curated health and wellness experiences.” I’m surprised there hasn’t been more of this over the past few years. Read more here.  
• I see people complaining about the lack of free entertainment in Las Vegas nowadays. There’s actually plenty, you just have to know where to look. The Mob Museum offers free entertainment every month. Here’s the list for Jan. but you’ll probably be able to find Feb here too in a few days. 
• Vital Vegas has some pics from inside Fontainebleau. Check them out here.  
• The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority put together a list of Year of the Rabbit celebrations. Read more here.  
• Here’s a video from a band called Year of the Rabbit. Enjoy!

• I was scrolling through Las Vegas press releases and saw that there’s a new Frank Sinatra mob book. Read more about the book here.   
• Last week I saw a commercial for Zouk at Resorts World for the first time. The club has a massive list of resident performers including rappers and DJs. Check out the full list here. 
• Dropicana roadwork on the I-15 is underway. You can see the timeline here.  
• This “VIP” thread was making rounds on Twitter last week. There isn’t much to it. The one takeaway here is how much the person spent to gain status.  Check it out here.  
• Bono from U2 said words about a Las Vegas residency without actually saying anything. Read it here.  
• Golden Gate has a high-limit slot machine that doesn’t jam winners with tax forms. Read more here.
• This isn’t exactly news as tickets have been on sale for a while but I just learned that Chris Hansen from “To Catch A Predator” is doing a one-man show at South Point in Feb. File under something different to do. Read more here.