0.27 percent rise in revenue compared with October 2016
Figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board Thursday show that gambling win was largely flat in the month of October compared to the same period in the previous year, with growth of just 0.27 percent to $988,744,450 (Oct. 2016: $986,075,384.)
The state collected $59,688,436 in gaming fees compared to $59,609,540 in November 2016, a 0.13 percent or $78,896 increase.
Sports betting was a particularly bright spot, Board spokesman Mike Lawton said, as more money was bet on the World Series than ever before.
“$566.4 million was wagered during month of October, a new all-time record, which beat the $558.2 million from last month,” he said.
“What’s interesting is this month, baseball saw $101.5 million bet, the largest number ever for October. So we can safely assume it was the most bet ever on a World Series. It beat last year’s record of $66.4 million when the Cubs and Indians played. This year pretty much shattered that.”
Looked at by region, the statistics show that the gaming win on the Las Vegas Strip fell 6.05 percent y-o-y in October to $528.7 million. The only other areas where revenue dropped in Nevada were North Lake Tahoe, down 3.55 percent, and Elko County where revenue was off 4.07 percent.
Whether this was due to the Bellagio shooting tragedy at the beginning of the month or not is not clear; Lawton told local reporters that there were other factors at play which could have influenced the results.
He pointed out that gaming revenues in October 2016 were especially good, growing by 11.1 percent state-wide and by 14 percent on the Strip.
“We were facing a tough comparison [in October 2017] and had a few days where things were off,” he said. “Also, we were down one weekend day, so going into the month, it was a tough comparison and I think for the state-wide numbers, we were pleasantly surprised that we came up slightly flat on the state side.”
Lawton added that the overall state numbers were assisted by the strength of gambling operations in southern Nevada and the calendar; he said that there was a fortunate weekend where revenue from one Friday and Saturday of September rolled into October.
Las Vegas tourism officials released visitor statistics Thursday showing that the number of visitors fell 4.2 percent y-o-y in October at 3.6 million visitors. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority blamed the drop on trip cancellations and postponements following the October 1 shooting.
