Breathtaking numbers

The 296 casinos in Nevada that had gaming revenue of at least $1m managed to generate total net income of $4.1bn in the 2022 fiscal year. The Nevada Gaming Control Board released the full-year figures on Thursday. Nevada’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and goes up to June 30 in the next calendar year.

smashed the previous record of $2.9bn set in the 2020 fiscal year

The 2022 net income total smashed the previous record of $2.9bn set in the 2020 fiscal year. It also represents a massive bounce back from the net loss of $206m that Nevada casinos suffered during the 2021 fiscal year as a result of pandemic-related struggles.

With casino revenue reaching $26bn for the fiscal year 2022, Nevada casinos saw a profit margin of almost 16%. It marked the second-highest total revenue figure of all time, with the record still standing at $27bn from 2018. Nearly 41% of the 2022 figure was gaming revenue.

Casinos in the state spent more than $2.9bn on complimentary expenses to VIP patrons in the 2022 fiscal year. The state benefitted from $1bn in gaming taxes and fees during the period, representing almost 10% of total gaming revenue.

A great recovery for the Strip

Las Vegas Strip casinos generated $1.8bn in net income in the 2022 fiscal year, a 74% year-on-year increase. Occupancy rates on the Strip were also up significantly from the prior year, with the average daily room rate at around $196.37. Resorts had an 83% occupancy rate for the period.

24^th consecutive year that gaming revenue was less than half of the total

Room, beverage, food, and other revenue made up 70% of the Strip’s total revenue of the 2022 fiscal year, with gaming revenue making up the rest. It is the 24^th consecutive year that gaming revenue was less than half of the total.

Success statewide

All of the gaming markets across Nevada, bar one, saw year-on-year rises in net income. The only exception was the South Shore Lake Tahoe area which was hurt by wildfires. The total number of casinos generating at least $1m in gaming revenue dropped by six locations to 296.

For the most recent fiscal year, the 56 casinos under the ownership of public companies made up nearly 68% of the state’s total gaming revenue. It was a good year for employment figures, with the average number of people employed in the sector increasing by 20% to 133,412. This was still below 2019 levels of 162,066 total workers.