Signaling the deep economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, statewide gambling revenue in April dropped 99.61 percent compared to what casino and online operators collected in April last year, the Gaming Control Board reported.

State taxes based on that revenue fell by an even steeper number: 99.96 percent. 

The steep drop-off in revenue and taxes from the gaming sector added to already significant losses in March, when the state reported a nearly 40 percent drop in revenue.

Gambling operators on the Las Vegas Strip and in downtown Las Vegas buoyed what little revenue was generated across the state. In total, Clark County generated about $3.7 million in revenue for April 2020, compared to the roughly $809 million generated in April 2019. 

Revenue was still collected on mobile sports betting and interactive poker. 

Outside of the Las Vegas Strip, downtown Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Elko County and the Carson Valley area, all other jurisdictions reported negative gaming revenue. 

Michael Lawton, a senior research analyst for the Gaming Control Board, said that “in several markets, sports books recorded losses primarily due to mobile betting activity or the payment to customers on uncashed tickets (winners) in April on events which occurred in preceding months.”

As a result, statewide gambling revenue was reported at about $3.6 million, lower than the amount reported in Clark County. That represented a 99.61 percent drop compared to the roughly $936 million collected statewide in April 2019. It also meant a sharp decrease in the amount of taxes that the state collected. The state collected $19,107 in taxes, based on the April 2020 revenue, compared to the nearly $51 million collected last year. 

Taxes directly from gambling comprise about 18 percent of the state’s general fund