Plunging Revenues – A Cause of Great Concern

The latest figures emerging from Nevada has clearly lowered any hopes about the state having surpassed the crisis. Nevada gambling revenue shows a 5.9 percent decline with the casinos registering $822 million, close to six percent less than past year’s figures.

According to an announcement made by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, figures for taxes collected from casino gambling revenues stood at $49.8 million for the same period. This also shows a decline of 12.7 percent as compared to previous year. In the month of November, the amount wagered on games fell by $171 million to $2.2 billion. The slot games also showed a considerable decline in interest.

The result is a reflection on the state’s volatile tourism industry. Nevada depends on tourism to a large extent to drive its economy. The same holds true for the gambling industry as well. The bad state of tourism is also reflected in the gaming revenue results reported from Las Vegas strip resorts which accounts for about half of the statewide casino win proceeds. They are considered the chief indicators of the health of the state’s tourism industry. The figures for the current month are not too encouraging with a 4.1 percent drop reflected in the earnings which totals at $453 million.

Meanwhile, Atlantic City, the second largest US gambling place also reported gloomy figures. Numbers have continued to spiral southward in the past 12 months with a 9.6 percent drop in revenues as compared to last year. After 28 successful of soaring and steadily increasing casino revenues, these figures are indeed hard to accept as true but unfortunately they are. There are hopes of a turnaround in 2011 with the recent movements taking place in the New Jersey legislature and the thrust on initiatives such as a state-managed tourism industry and fewer regulations for the gambling halls in the state.

Online as well as land gaming service owners are hopeful that the new measures will help Atlantic City spring back to its rightful position in the US gambling industry. They believe that while immediate revival is not possible, there is good scope for the industry to bounce back by the last quarter of 2011 and then consolidate its position from there on.

On the other hand, there are some people who are skeptical about the prospects of an immediate improvement. They attribute the dramatic growth of retail business in Atlantic City as a contributing factor for the serious decline in gaming revenues. Restaurant concepts have made their way into the lives of people with more people preferring to spend on hotels and spas. Entertainment of the family variety is what Atlantic City residents are now spending more on. Mid-sized hall such as the Boardwalk Hall was one of the top revenue grosser in the state. Tennis matches as well as boxing bouts have attracted huge audience over the last couple of years, signaling a changing trend among the type of entertainment that people prefer.

The gaming service providers are pinning their hopes on the legislation that would confer a legal status to the gaming industry. They are sure that the golden era will be back in Atlantic City as it would in the rest of the country in the next few years.