Gaming revenue from traditional casinos across the US for April confirms that “the recovery is well underway,” gaming analysts insist told SiGMA News

By Buck Wargo – SiGMA US correspondent

Nevada’s April results reported an 11 per cent higher revenue than the same month last year, even surpassing a rare $1billion threshold.

Analysts said that what is happening in Nevada and across the country with vaccinations rising, COVID-19 cases decreasing and the economy rebounding, means the casino industry is expected to have a strong summer comeback.

That was also evidenced by large crowds in Las Vegas and in other resort properties over the Memorial Day weekend.

Analysis from Brent Pirosch, a gaming analyst with CBRE, said 19 states of the 24 where data is available show they’ve surpassed their gaming revenue from April 2019 while 14 states registered double-digit growth.

“A combination of pent-up demand, tax refunds, stimulus payments, and record consumer savings are contributing to a strong jump start,” Pirosch told SiGMA.

“Many of the states are aided, at least in part, by the introduction or ramp-up of retail sports betting, but when you look at slot revenue across the states, the results are essentially the same. Put simply, most places are doing better than they were. The pent-up demand shows the recovery is underway.”

Pirosch said March was a retail record revenue month for six states and just 0.6 per cent below the record set in March 2019.

“We believe that major increases in vaccination rates and relaxed mask mandates will bear fruit in May as well,” Pirosch said.

He said that the Mid-west states had some of the larger increases over April 2019 while the Mid-Atlantic region showed smaller gains over the same period.

The Southern region was the biggest winner overall, demonstrating “significant increases”.

The New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine reported $171.9 million in revenue in April while the Mid-Atlantic states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and Maryland reported $968.3 million in April.

The Midwest states that include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and South Dakota reported $1.02 billion in April.

The Southern states that include Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma reported $571.1 million in April as the Mountain states of Colorado and New Mexico reported $103.3 million in revenue in April – up from $98 million in March and $87.3 million in April 2019.