Not that it's a big surprise or anything,
but Las Vegas, or rather, Nevada's, casino gambling revenues were down another
month. As reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, September marks the
eighth consecutive month in which revenue has dropped for the gambling capital
of the world.
Compared to the previous month, September's
figures dropped by over 8% to close out with a total monthly gambling revenue of
just over $934 million. (One year ago, this figure was over $1 billion). As for
all the fancy casinos on the Strip, they saw an overall decline of 7.4%, closing
the month at $494 million (same time last year brought in over $533 million).
Thus far this year, casino gambling
revenues are down by 6.8%, which is slightly greater than the 6.6% decline rate
in the first eight months of 2007. Nevada hasn't seen such a large decline in
almost twenty-five years, back when Nevada first started keeping records.
And contrary to previous reports that
showed smaller locals casinos doing well overall, the general sentiment for
local business and downtown casinos is the same. Gambling revenue in North Las
Vegas dropped by nearly 18%, Boulder Highway figures were down by over 22% and
Clark County/downtown casinos saw a drop of 9.5%.
The one thing that is keeping resorts and
casinos afloat right now is the non-gaming revenue, although I'm not at all
certain that hasn't seen a big hit as well. Local establishments are making up
for losses with cheap eats, but the larger resorts still have beds to fill.
Let's hope some economic stimulus the world over will help get things going
again, or it's almost certain there is going to be some cutbacks in Las Vegas
very soon.
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