Most Nevada casinos made less money in the 2023 fiscal year than they did in 2022, according to a detailed 163-page report issued Friday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The big reason: higher interest rates, rental costs and other general and administrative expenses.
The board’s 2023 Nevada Gaming Abstract said casinos statewide made net income of $3.44 billion off revenue of $29.87 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The net income — the amount kept by companies after expenses — reported was 21.4 percent less than in the 2022 fiscal year, but revenue — the amount collected for hotel rooms, food and beverage and other attractions as well as gambling — increased 8.9 percent statewide.
But don’t weep for the casinos — this year’s net income was the second highest in the history of the report and the reason amounts declined in every market except South Lake Tahoe was that fiscal year 2022’s numbers were all-time highs.
Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior economic analyst who crunches gaming numbers, said the reason profits dropped since 2022 was because of higher administrative costs.
Lawton said interest expenses increased 23.3 percent or $448.8 million, rent of premises increased 69.8 percent or $248.3 million, and other general and administrative expenses increased 17.1 percent or $612.7 million.
In Southern Nevada, Clark County net income of $3.03 billion (down 20.7 percent) was kept from revenue of $26.859 billion (up 9.5 percent).
In Southern Nevada submarkets:
— Strip, net revenue of $1.37 billion (down 33.6 percent) from revenue of $20.48 billion (up 11.6 percent).
— Downtown Las Vegas, net revenue of $259.2 million (down 3.9 percent) from revenue of $1.55 billion (up 4.3 percent).
— Boulder Strip, net revenue of $413.5 million (down 6.7 percent) from revenue of $1.25 billion (up 1.8 percent).
— Laughlin, net revenue of $54.5 million (down 32.9 percent) from revenue of $674.2 million (up 1.6 percent).
— Balance of Clark County, net revenue of $925.6 million (down 2.9 percent) from revenue of $2.891 billion (up 1.8 percent).
The report said gaming revenue statewide was $10.92 billion for the fiscal year, down 1 percent. In Clark County, it was $9.35 billion, down 1.2 percent; the Strip $5.45 billion, down 2.3 percent; Downtown, $733.2 million, up 1.3 percent; Boulder Strip $854.3 million, down 1.4 percent; Laughlin $371.3 million, down 2 percent; and balance of county, $854.3 million, up 1.1 percent.
The Control Board purposely does not identify which properties are in which markets because many of them are privately held.
The statewide report covers 300 nonrestricted gaming licensees with gaming revenue in excess of $1 million. Of those, 174 are in Clark County. A total of 54 casinos are operated by publicly traded companies that accounted for 64.4 percent of total gaming revenue during the fiscal year. Those companies routinely report net income and revenue on a quarterly basis.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.