It May Be Winter but Super Las Vegas Continues to Run Hot
The Super Bowl will be staged in Nevada for the first time this weekend. The crown jewel of America’s sporting calendar is predicted to complete a golden period in Las Vegas history. 2023 was a record-breaking year for Nevada, and the State continues to prosper despite wintry conditions.
Statewide Nevada casinos collected $15.5 billion in gaming revenue in 2023. It was a 4.6 percent increase over 2022’s figure. Vegas Strip casinos alone registered a record $8.9 billion in revenue – a 7.4 percent growth over 2022 and more than 57 percent of the state total.
The opening of the Sphere and the Las Vegas Grand Prix boosted Las Vegas visitor numbers in 2023. ©Getty
High-profile events, such as Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in late November and September’s opening of the $2.3 billion Sphere, would have boosted visitor numbers. Las Vegas tourism exceeded 40.8 million visitors in 2023. Remarkably, that was not a record. 2016 saw the city host 42.9 million people.
Nevertheless, Harry Reid International Airport shattered 2023’s passenger volume record by more than nine percent. The airport – re-named from McCarran Airport in 2021 – catered to 57.6 million customers.
Nevada Had a Christmas Period to Celebrate
Metaphorically, December has been the hottest month for Las Vegas and Nevada. A 10.2 percent hike in airport customers was reflected in winnings across Nevada. The State’s gambling venues won $1.433 billion (a nine percent increase on the previous December).
Strip casinos reported $905.4 million in December revenues – an 11.2 percent increase over the corresponding period in 2022. Remarkably, the twelfth month of 2023 was also the most profitable month of the year, followed by July and November.
Driving the upward curve was the opening of two new Las Vegas properties during the month: The Durango, a $780 million construction, and the 67-story Fontainebleau – a new casino on the site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel & Casino and the Algiers Hotel. Costing $3.7 billion to build, it features 3,644 rooms and suites, 19 restaurants, and a six-acre pool area.
34 Straight $1 Billion-Plus Months
However, Michael Lawton, the Senior Economic Analyst at Nevada’s Gaming Control Board, listed a steady calendar of special events that helped drive significant levels of gambling. He cited Garth Brooks’s residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, U2’s dates at the Sphere, the NBA’s first-ever in-season tournament semifinals and final at T-Mobile Arena, two home games for the Las Vegas Raiders, UFC 296, and a Bruno Mars concert at Park MGM.
December was a particularly hectic month, unlikely to be matched anytime soon. So, will Nevada’s remarkable profitability wane during the year ahead? Since Nevada’s casinos reopened after a ten-week closure during the COVID-19 outbreak, the State has posted 34 successive months of $1 billion-plus monthly revenues.
Super Bowl LVIII will be an early shot in the arm for Nevada’s economy. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority predicts the big game will have a gross economic impact of $1.1 billion for the Las Vegas area.
Events data prediction site PredictHQ believes the Super Bowl Experience event at Mandalay Bay Convention Centre will have 300,000 attendees and generate an event spend of $24,231,393. An official Super Bowl Watch Party could garner an additional $16.15 million.
How Much Will Be Gambled on the Super Bowl?
As a betting medium gaming and research consulting firm, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming estimates that Super Bowl 2024 will generate $1.25 billion in legal bets. 12.8 percent of that figure is predicted to be wagered in Nevada and 12.4 percent in New York.
An impressive sum but small change when compared to the $23.1 billion the American Gaming Association says will be wagered by Americans on Super Bowl 2024. Its figures include wagers that will be struck with illegal bookmakers and online operators not licensed by US/State authorities.
The Associated Press reports nearly 68 million American adults – about one person in four – are expected to take a financial interest in the game. The UK’s online betting sites currently quote the San Francisco 49ers as -2.5 match favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs.
