Nevada’s major casinos net $1.5 billion in 2017

Net income for Nevada’s major casinos rose strongly in fiscal 2017 to more than $1.5 billion before federal taxes.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said that is a 59 percent jump from the $979 million those casinos netted in the year before.

He said after seven consecutive net losses during the recession, the 272 resorts with gaming revenues of more than $1 million a year have now recorded two consecutive years of positive income.

The data is contained in the Gaming Abstract published by the control board each January and includes not just gaming but rooms, food, beverages, entertainment and all other sources of resort revenue.

The Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, did even better, growing net income from $8.4 million to $11.4 million from 2016 through 2017. That’s a 36.5 percent, $3.1 million increase. Carson has 15 casinos in the million-plus category.

The Carson Valley Area now has seven consecutive years of positive net income.

Total revenue in Carson was $153 million, a 2.2 percent increase. Gaming revenue grew just 1.4 percent but revenue from rooms was up 15.5 percent.

The South Lake Tahoe area of Douglas County did even better, posting a whopping 92.5 percent increase in net income to $27.2 million.

Total revenue for the five licensees at South Shore was $395.7 million, a $20.6 million or 5.5 percent increase. Gaming revenue was up 7.8 percent to $15.6 million.

Total revenue there has now increased for three consecutive years and gaming revenue for two of the last three years after being down eight years during the recession.

Washoe County’s 32 casinos reported a net income of $126.4 million for fiscal 2017. That’s down 12 percent from $143.7 million a year ago. That net is on total revenues of $1.5 billion.

Statewide, total revenue generated by the major resorts around the state was $26.2 billion. It’s the seventh consecutive annual increase and the highest total revenue ever recorded in the Abstract.

Total gaming revenue was $11.1 billion, up 3.3 percent or $349.2 million.

But gaming statewide accounts for less than half the total revenues taken in by those resorts — in fact, just 42.4 percent.

Statewide, rooms brought in $6.2 billion, up 5.8 percent, beverages $1.8 billion, up 4.2 percent, and food $3.9 billion, up a half-percent. “Other” revenues ranging from entertainment to parking fees and even leased space for restaurants, accounted for $3.2 billion.

Gaming revenue has been less than half of total resort revenue since 2005 and, as resorts continue to expand all manner of offerings beyond the casino floor, continues to decrease.

The exception is the Carson Valley Area where gaming revenues account for 65.1 percent of total revenue.