Nevada, Las Vegas Strip casinos post 2nd-highest wins on strength of F1 weekend

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Nevada, Las Vegas Strip casinos post 2nd-highest wins on strength of F1 weekend
Wild Casino

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip drove Nevada to its second-highest win on record in November, validating some expectations surrounding the return of Formula One racing to the valley.

The Strip’s win — $820,992,082 — was a gaudy 22.6% higher than November a year ago. The number fell about $14 million short of the Strip’s all-time high in July 2023 ($834,898,954).

Statewide, casinos won $1.37 billion, about $30 million short of July’s record. The win was 12.5% above figures from last November.

With cones disrupting traffic all around the racecourse and construction changing the face of the Las Vegas Strip, there was considerable pushback to the F1 race right up to the event. Many believed the headache just wasn’t worth it.

But the numbers released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board showed there was a big payday that came with the event. Race promoters and county officials believe it will be a bigger payday next year, when some of the wrinkles are ironed out.

“The four-day period beginning on November 16th was extremely profitable for both gaming and non-gaming activity on the Las Vegas Strip with some properties estimating those days established all-time record levels of revenue,” according to Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst.

“The event’s success was more evident at luxury properties where the Las Vegas Strip’s baccarat increase accounted for 78.6% of the state’s growth this month. Additionally, the 25 licensees that are included in the $72 million or over revenue range for annual gross gaming win on the Las Vegas Strip increased by $160.0 million or 25.8% compared to last November and accounted for over 100.0% of the state’s entire increase for the month,” Lawton said.

Figures released by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) on Thursday show that tourism volume also went up in November, with the number of visitors at 3,292,800.

The Gaming Control Board’s numbers a month ago suggested the November win would be high based on percentage fee collections. So far in December, the state has collected even more than last month, with $85.4 million coming in with four days remaining in the month.

That could be a result December openings of Durango Casino & Resort and Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

So far, Nevada is 4.7% ahead of pace for the 2024 fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to the end of June.