Gaming abstract shows low winter Stateline occupancy rates

Two months after the 2020 coronavirus lockdown was lifted, Stateline hotels saw their most robust occupancy of the year, according to the Nevada Gaming Abstract.

The Stateline hotels hit 88.9 percent in August 2020, up from 84.1 percent in July 2020.

Nevada allowed the casinos to reopen after being closed for three months after the arrival of the contagion in March 2020.

In a reverse of typical trends, occupancy dropped to 49.2 percent in November and 57.6 percent in December 2020 and 63.2 percent in January 2021.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released the Nevada Gaming Abstract last week detailing income from each of the Silver State’s casino cores with gaming revenue of $1 million or more.

Most of that revenue came from slot machines, which generated $370.03 a day per room, according to the abstract, more than three times that generated from table games, Keno and Bingo.

With seven casinos with revenue of $1 million or more, Stateline is the main source of gaming revenue and room taxes in Douglas County, generating $24.4 million in the fiscal year.

An average of 2,057 employees worked at the Stateline casinos.

The 15 casinos in the East Fork and Carson City townships combined for a net income of $37.38 million.

Not all of the casinos in the two townships have hotel rooms, and even those that do, didn’t exceed 70 percent occupancy until June 2021. December 2020 was also a slow month in the Valley with an occupancy of 34.3 percent.

A relatively dry December 2020 combined with a coronavirus surge contributed to the reduction for that month.

The abstract is for the 2020-21 fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, and doesn’t reflect the effects of last summer’s fires.

As of November, the gaming win at Stateline was $95.7 million since July 1, 2021. That’s down 10 percent from the same period in 2020.

Room tax helps fund Douglas County’s parks, library and the two visitors’ authorities and chambers. Property taxes on casinos in Nevada are assessed based on revenue for the most part.