Gaming win totals down for fiscal year

Total gaming win declined 1.9 percent in the fiscal year which ended June 30 " a reflection of the weak national economy.

That is the first decline year over year since fiscal 2002 when win dropped 3.7 percent compared to the previous year and compares to the average growth for the past 10 years of 4.8 percent.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Frank Streshley said most of the damage was done in the second half of the fiscal year " January through June. The Las Vegas Strip, for example, was up 2.2 percent for the first half of the year but down 5.2 percent the second six months. The economic downturn showed itself much more strongly in the second half of the year in every market. In the end, the Strip reported $6.7 billion in win, a drop of 1.5 percent overall reduction compared to 2007.

By June 30, every reporting area in the state was down compared to the previous year except Elko County markets, still buoyed by the mining industry, and the "Balance of County" category in Clark County where there has been significant growth in the gaming market. And even Elko was negative by nearly 5 percent in June.

The downturn was most pronounced in Washoe County where win was down almost 7 percent for the year and 19 percent for June alone. That was the largest annual decrease in two decades and dragged the total for the fiscal year below $1 billion in Washoe for the first time in 11 years. Casinos reported a total win of just $996 million.

North Shore casinos in Washoe were down more than 13 percent to $37.8 million for the year. For June, the drop was nearly 27 percent as casinos won just $2.9 million.

South Shore casinos suffered just as bad in June, reporting a 24 percent drop in win to $20.5 million. But for the year, the picture at Stateline was significantly better " a $319.6 million total which equates to a 3.9 percent drop compared to fiscal 2007.

Carson Valley, which includes valley portions of Douglas as well as Carson City, was down 4.1 percent for the year to $117.5 million. For June, the drop was 5.46 percent. After a drop of 1.7 percent in fiscal 2007, that is the area's second consecutive year of decline.

Overall, Nevada casinos won a total of $12.5 billion in fiscal 2008. Streshley said the numbers show that the Strip now accounts for more than 53 percent of that and $8.3 billion of the total comes from slot and other machine play.

Streshley said one reason for the flat month is there was one less Friday in June 2008 than in June 2007. And he said there were no major special events this past June to draw high rollers.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.