Nevada's main casinos lose USD 743.7 M in fiscal '14

It was the sixth straight year that casinos collectively showed a loss, but it was the smallest loss since 2009 when the recession began crushing casino finances. The state report collects financial data from casinos and reports key statistics of casino revenue by game category, room revenue, food and beverage revenue, occupancy rates, number of employees and revenue per room and per square foot.

The report in some cases also breaks down statistics by county and regions within the county. In Clark County, 151 casinos grossing US$ 1 million or more in gaming revenue generated a net loss of US$ 746.8 million on revenue of US$ 21.4 billion. Washoe County had 36 casinos reporting a net income of US$ 30.3 M on revenues of US$ 1.4 billion.

Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Control Board, said gaming represented less than half of the casinos’ revenue for the 10th straight year. On the Strip, gaming’s contribution to a casino’s total revenue has been less than half for even longer — since 1998.

While Strip revenue losses continue to narrow, 2014 marked a record year for total revenue at US$ 16.31 billion for the 45 Strip properties. Resorts brought in record revenue for rooms (US$ 4.25 billion), food ($2.51 billion), beverage (US$ 1.2 billion) and “other” (US$ 2.35 billion). “Other” revenue includes entertainment, nightclub and retail categories.

What wasn’t at record levels was gaming revenue. Gaming revenue for the Strip came in at US$ 5.99 billion, representing a 4.2 percent improvement from 2013, but 7.7 percent below the peak level of US$ 6.5 billion in 2007. In the casino, pit games, which include bingo and keno, generated 48.2 percent of the revenue (US$ 2.89 billion) while slot machines and other coin-operated devices brought in 47.9 percent of the revenue (US$ 2.87 billion).

The rest of the Strip casino revenue came from poker (US$ 97.8 million, 1.6 percent), sports wagering (US$ 107.1 million, 1.8 percent) and the race book (US$ 27.5 million, 0.5 percent). Casino executives at the Strip resorts handed out US$ 1.5 billion — a quarter of what the casino generated in revenue — in comps. Other casino expenses at Strip resorts included US$ 13.6 million for executives, US$ 740.4 million for casino employees, US$ 195.3 million for employee benefits and US$ 112.6 million for payroll taxes.