Casino revenue up, gaming win not

Total revenue earned by Nevada's casinos in fiscal 2001 increased more than $546 million over the year before -- but they didn't make it from the tables and slots.

According to the Gaming Control Board's annual Gaming Abstract released Friday, revenue from rooms, food and beverage sales were all up substantially, while actual gaming revenue was essentially flat for the year ended June 30, 2001.

"The additional revenues all came from everywhere but gaming," said Control Board analyst Frank Streshley.

Figures in the Abstract, a 230-page, detailed annual review of Nevada's gaming industry, show that total statewide casino income in the 247 casinos making more than $1 million in gaming revenue was down 1.4 percent -- just over $59 million.

But total revenue from hotel rooms was up nearly 12 percent, and goods revenues 38 percent. Beverages income went up 5 percent and the revenues collected by other resort departments climbed nearly 10 percent during the year.

As a result, the share gaming contributes to total revenues reported by Nevada resorts fell to 51.4 percent. And on the Las Vegas Strip, where mega-resorts with many other attractions are the rule, casinos themselves produced less than half the total revenue for the third year in a row -- dropping in fiscal 2001 to 43.7 percent.

Altogether, Nevada's 247 casinos generated a total of $18.1 billion in revenues, $10.6 billion of that on the Strip. At the end of the fiscal year, those casinos generated $554.4 million net income before taxes.

In Clark County, 149 casinos combined to generate $402.3 million in net income from $14.9 billion in total revenues. And Washoe County, with 37 casinos reporting, earned $73.4 million income from $1.97 billion in total revenues.

South Lake Tahoe's five resorts accounted for $43.1 million of that net profit. Although that is 4.4 percent less than last year, it wasn't because of gaming which actually increased 2.2 percent at the lake. And, where the statewide average net profit is just over 3 percent, Stateline casinos generated a 7.9 percent profit.

Casinos in the Carson Valley, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the Capital, produced a net of $8.5 million on $132.4 million in total revenues. That is up 15.5 percent from the previous year.

And 16 Elko County casinos had $15.9 million net income while the rest of the state generated a total of $11.3 million in net income from 30 small casinos.