Despite the pandemic and travel restrictions, Nevada casinos managed to set an all-time high for revenue in 2021. Gambling in the state topped $13.4 billion, as reported by the Gaming Control Board. December was the 10th consecutive month that Nevada managed to bring on over $1 billion, and that’s a separate record all by itself. The Control Board reported showed an increase in generated revenue of nearly 70%, which translated to a win of $1.15 billion.
Senior research analyst Michael Lawton of the Nevada Gaming Control Board stated that “The reasons for the record level of gaming win recorded this calendar year began with the successful rollout of vaccines, which eliminated capacity restrictions on the gaming floor… This demand was being driven by healthy consumer savings as the result of stimulus payments and the sustained rebound of leisure travel.”
In fact, when Nevada casinos relaxed Covid restrictions, that was the exact moment that the streak of billion dollar revenue months began. While casinos on The Strip were up over 120% for December bringing in $680 million, sports betting handled over $1 billion for the third month in a row… most likely from action on the National Football League. But the action still resulted in just $16 million in revenue, which was the smallest take since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, revenue from slot machines was up over 70%, as were table games. Slots, however, contributed nearly 69% of the states revenue for the year. All of this action from Nevada casinos was able to add over $68 million to state coffers.