Nevada on the verge of record gaming year after 2020 doldrums

Gaming revenues, a major economic driver for Nevada and Clark County, are exceeding expectations.

The Gaming Control Board said Wednesday that statewide gaming revenue in November was $1.32 billion, just shy of the single-month record of $1.36 billion reported in July.

If the state surpasses $500 million in December, it will exceed its greatest single-year number, set before the Great Recession. The single-year record for gaming revenue is $12.8 billion, collected in 2007, followed by $12.6 billion in 2006.

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For the first 11 months of 2021, Nevada casinos have collected $12.3 billion in gaming revenue, 11.9% above the $12 billion collected in 2019.

The numbers have defied economic forecasts, which anticipated the state — and especially the Strip — would have a slow recovery following months of pandemic-related shutdowns and operating restrictions.

The take for the month represents a 41% increase over November 2019 and a record ninth-straight month of more than $1 billion. It also represents a 71% increase over November 2020, but economists are comparing this year to 2019 for a more accurate take on the path of recovery, given revenues dropped to their lowest levels since the 1990s in 2020.

Las Vegas Strip resorts collected more than $755 million in gaming revenue during November, a 45.8% increase over November 2019. The nation’s largest casino market is already 7.2% ahead of its 2019 total of $6.58 billion.

Fitch Ratings revised Nevada’s outlook to stable from negative in September and affirmed its AA-plus issuer default rating citing the state’s “stronger than anticipated rebound from the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, both in terms of its revenue performance and its focus on rebuilding financial resilience.”

The outlook revision applied to $1.18 billion in GO debt and $72 million in certificate of appreciation debt issued by the Nevada Real Property Corp. that was outstanding as of June 30, 2020.

Nevada is rated AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings and Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service.