Las Vegas tourism sees first increase since 2024 as gaming flat

For the first time since 2024, the data sets for gaming in Nevada and tourism in Las Vegas both showed gains in the same month.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state posted gross gaming revenue of $1.24 billion in February, up 1.5% year-over-year. The Las Vegas Strip was essentially flat YoY at $696.2 million, and the market is nearly level (-0.9%) through this point of the fiscal year. Keeping with the trend, both Clark County and the state overall are also within 1% of last year’s pace.

Nevada’s steady gaming performance was buttressed by Las Vegas’ first monthly tourism increase in at least 15 months. February’s visitation total was 3.03 million, a 2% increase YoY, per the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. For the Strip, average daily rates and revenue per available room increased 4% and 6%, respectively.

Those results were welcome signs for stakeholders, but air traffic still declined slightly. Total traffic at Harry Reid International Airport fell 3% last month, spurred by a 10% slide in international travel. The bankruptcy of budget domestic carrier Spirit slashed its traffic by 72% YoY, while top Canadian airlines WestJet and Air Canada were both down more than 20%.

In regards to the labour market, Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation has yet to publish any monthly reports this year. A spokeswoman for the agency told iGB the report for January will be released in April.

Baccarat strong, Super Bowl slumps in February

Looking closer at the gaming results, the Strip was buoyed by a surge in baccarat performance, which often makes or breaks its monthly results. The Strip won $119.9 million from the game in February, a 37% increase over last year.

Baccarat is the most popular game of choice among high-rollers and often sees the largest average bet size, which can result in high volatility. Over the last three months, the Strip is down 21% on the game, but the 12-month figure (-3%) is much more palatable.

Zooming out, almost every other market tracked by the NGCB was positive for the month. Reno saw a 7% increase YoY to $60.6 million, and the Biggest Little City is having a solid fiscal year thus far (+4.5%). Boulder City ($77 million, +3.5%) and the Las Vegas locals market ($148 million, +3%) both had positive months, while downtown Las Vegas ($69.8 million, -4%) was a notable laggard.

From a sports betting perspective, Super Bowl LX was not kind to Nevada bookmakers. The state as a whole reported sports betting GGR of $35.3 million, down 14% from last year. GGR from football betting slid nearly 70% YoY to just $4.3 million. Of those totals, the Strip won $15.3 million in GGR and $2.9 million from football. Total handle for the Super Bowl was $133.8 million, the lowest in at least a decade.

Those declines could be attributed in part to sports event contracts on prediction markets. Nevada was unable to prevent Kalshi from offering Super Bowl contracts but has since secured a temporary restraining order against the platform. Kalshi was forced to restrict Nevada users from trading sports, entertainment and election contracts until its next hearing on 3 April in federal appeals court.

Q1 earnings season around the corner

With the first quarter of 2026 nearly complete, Las Vegas operators will soon go back under analysts’ microscope after mostly struggling through 2025.

The “Big 3” Strip companies – Wynn, MGM and Caesars – all felt pressure on their Las Vegas segments last year to varying degrees. Caesars in particular has languished, and speculation about a potential sale continues to ramp up. Meanwhile, locals-focused operators like Boyd and Red Rock have enjoyed record success as value customers flock to lower prices.

In a note to investors Friday, Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon said the positive data sets have flipped Q1 earnings estimates “to the upside for Vegas segments”.

“We continue to expect higher-end properties to outperform, including WYNN over MGM/CZR,” Beynon wrote. “While we believe the long-term Vegas thesis remains intact, we are concerned that leisure/international softness will persist this year after three years of post-Covid growth (which is why we moved Vegas to our least favourite Gaming sector in our ’26 Gaming Primer).”

Conversely, strength in non-Strip performance led Beynon to “believe [Red Rock] and [Boyd] are positioned to outperform current 1Q26E current consensus for their respective retail segments”.

Jess Marquez

Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.