Nevada’s fourth straight record-breaking gaming revenue year wasn’t entirely due to the performance of the Strip’s resorts.

Credit goes to casinos in downtown Las Vegas, Reno and Clark County’s unincorporated areas, which provided elevated 12-month figures that helped push Nevada to more than $15.6 billion in gaming revenue, according to numbers released Thursday by the Gaming Control Board. Strip gaming revenue fell 1 percent in 2024, marking one of the few times year-end results differed for the Strip and state.

For Nevada, a less than 1 percent increase from 2023 was the smallest percentage jump since 2021. Analysts credited a full year of operations from Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Durango Casino Resort — both of which opened in December 2023 — for helping offset the 2024 closures of Tropicana Las Vegas in April and The Mirage in July.

Michael Lawton, the control board’s senior economic analyst, said consumer demand remained strong in 2024 despite inflation and rising interest rates.

“Nevada continued to benefit from consumer’s desire for leisure travel domestically and internationally,” he said in a statement. “Furthermore, Nevada’s healthy local economy is experiencing record employment levels and population growth that includes higher-income earners.”

Strip casino revenue was $8.8 billion — due primarily to a nearly 7 percent decline in baccarat revenue, which accounted for almost $1.4 billion of the overall figure. Slot machine revenue on the Strip in 2024 grew 2.1 percent to $4.9 billion, but it wasn’t enough to offset the baccarat decline.

Factoring out the Strip, state gaming revenue was up more than 2.6 percent in 2024.

Nevada gaming revenue has grown by almost 30 percent since 2019 — the last full year before the pandemic stymied the casino and tourism industry in 2020 and parts of 2021. Strip gaming revenue is up almost 34 percent over the last four years.

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) said December saw more than 3.4 million tourists visit Southern Nevada. The slight increase from a year ago was enough for the market to draw almost 41.7 million visitors in 2024, a jump of 2.1 percent.

In a statement, LVCVA Vice President of Research Kevin Bagger said December increases in average daily room rates, convention attendance, hotel occupancy and revenue associated with occupancy helped drive positive year-end percentage results in the categories that measure Las Vegas tourism.

Also, Harry Reid International Airport drew more than 58.4 million passengers in 2024, the facility’s third consecutive year of record-breaking passenger totals — eclipsing 2023’s record of 57.6 million by 1.4 percent. 

But some analysts are worrying that Nevada’s double-digit gaming growth rate could be slowing. Statewide, gaming revenue increased more than 3 percent in the first six months of 2024 but declined 2 percent in the last half of the year.

JMP Securities gaming analyst Jordan Bender wrote in a research note Thursday that based on 2010-2019 data, January and February are the second and third most important months of the year, respectively, for Las Vegas gaming revenue.

He was concerned that February could be an off month, given the boost Las Vegas saw from hosting Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in 2024 and the increased gambling associated with the event. Bender suggested gaming revenue on the Strip will be down roughly 3 percent for the first three months of 2025.

Revenue increases away from the Strip

The majority of the state’s markets outside of the Strip grew revenue compared to 2023. The balance of Clark County, which covers casinos not situated in Las Vegas or North Las Vegas, saw a 10.6 percent revenue jump to $1.9 billion, the second largest figure in the state behind the Strip.

Lawton credited the opening of Durango with the 2.7 percent revenue increase. Its success is evidenced by property owner Red Rock Resorts’ planned expansion of the 200-room, 83,000-square-foot casino this year. Compared to 2019, the gaming revenue in the balance of Clark County is up more than 50 percent.

Downtown casinos saw their fourth straight record for gaming revenue, a jump of 2.4 percent to $931.2 million, while Reno casino revenue grew almost 3 percent to $758.8 million. Gaming revenue in Sparks, however, fell 2.7 percent to $177.6 million.

Five of the state’s 18 reporting markets set single-year gaming revenue totals in 2024, including smaller areas, such as Mesquite and Carson Valley.

Clark County as a whole contributed nearly $13.6 billion to the overall state total with Washoe County adding a little more than $1 billion. The combined Las Vegas locals market, which includes the remainder of the county, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip (Henderson), totaled almost $3.2 billion, up nearly 6 percent compared to 2023. 

December’s mixed bag

Nevada casinos set a single-month record for gaming revenue in December — $1.46 billion — snapping the figure of $1.43 billion that was set 12 months earlier.

Strip casinos, however, saw a nearly 2.7 percent gaming revenue decline to $881.2 million in December — competing against their all-time single-month revenue figure of $905.3 million in December 2023. 

Baccarat revenue fell almost 10 percent in the month and Strip gaming revenue has declined for six consecutive months. The last time that happened was in December 2018 through May 2019. 

Several of the state’s reporting markets recorded higher-than-average revenue figures because November ended on a weekend, sending slot revenue totals into December. The lack of a uniform statewide requirement for how casinos report their slot machine revenue allows property leadership to record the winnings either that month or roll them over to the following month after the weekend.

Is Reid Airport running out of room?

Reid Airport saw more than 4.8 million passengers in December, which marked the eighth time in 12 months that the facility set a new monthly record. October set a record for the second busiest month ever at the airport with 5.4 million passengers. 

International passenger volume increased almost 14 percent to 3.7 million passengers in 2024, with domestic volume up less than 1 percent. The figure was Reid’s largest in the last five years. The airport brought in more than 3.8 million international travelers in 2019, the last full year of operations before the pandemic.

In a statement, Clark County Department of Aviation officials credited the increase in international service to new airlines, such as Aer Lingus introducing nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Dublin, Ireland, while existing air carriers expanded their services to cities in Europe, Asia, Canada and Mexico.

Southwest Airlines remained Reid Airport’s largest air carrier, accounting for more than 21.6 million passengers, up almost 4 percent from 2023. 

Clark County Department of Aviation officials said expansion plans are being explored, including a multiple-phase project unveiled in October that could take four years to complete and would alleviate congestion at the increasingly busy airport. A budget, however, had not been determined. The initial effort would involve increasing the number of passenger gates.

Director of Aviation Rosemary Vassiliadis said expanding the number of passenger gates would be the initial focus since it would help alleviate delays in arrivals and departures.

“We’re focused on long-term planning for modernizing and maximizing [the airport],” Vassiliadis said in a statement.