February 2025 proved to be a particularly humbling month for Nevada’s gaming industry. This year’s Super Bowl, with its enormous economic potential, moved to New Orleans, leaving some serious consequences for Nevada gaming revenue figures.
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) dropped to $1.21 billion, corresponding to a 9% drop from February 2024’s $1.34 billion – when the state hosted the Super Bowl for the first time ever. February’s figures also fell significantly shorter than January’s $1.43 billion posting, while also marking a 1.1% year‑to‑date revenue decrease.
The Super Bowl came to the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada last year, the first time the state had ever hosted the big game. While the game brought in some serious windfall, about $1 billion in local economic impact at the time, the story is very different one year later. The gross gaming revenue (GGR) recorded for Nevada dipped below $1.3 billion in February, the first time this had happened in the last six months.
As revenue to the state dropped, so did visitor traffic. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported welcoming 2.97 million visitors in February, a year-on-year drop of 12%. Convention attendance and average daily room rates plunged by 19.5% and 25%, respectively, although trade tensions between the USA and its neighbors, Mexico and Canada, played a part in this drop.
Slot GGR held flat at $381.9 million as well, unable to provide a regular cushion as table game revenue declined by 26.5% to $308.4 million. The latter was mostly due to Baccarat plunging to $87.5 million for a 51.5% revenue drop, flattening out most of the gains recorded in the last three months.
In other similarly important news from Nevada, the Las Vegas Strip revenue was not left untouched by the drop, recording a GGR drop of 14% to $690.3 million. The Strip, widely regarded as the crown jewel of American gaming, is now down by over 3%, a grim statistic that puts its post-Covid recovery under serious pressure. Downtown Las Vegas is known to be a fallback during Strip fall-offs, but it was unable to fend off a 5% drop to $72.4 million, even as the local market held at just under $144 million. A few market segments managed to hold out well in the face of February’s drop, with locals up 7% year‑to‑date and downtown up 1.8%.
The Super Bowl was not solely to blame for the drop in figures across the board. With the USA under President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, Nevada’s top feeder markets, the results were not unexpected. Throw in the northern markets still recovering from the winter market, and you get a little more perspective on why the overall state revenue is dropping.
Northern Nevada markets failed to live up to a strong January. With a 17% drop to $17.6 million, South Lake Tahoe recorded the biggest drop, mostly due to the winter weather keeping visitors at home. The Biggest Little City did better than its neighbors while remaining flat year-to-date, with revenue figures from Reno also dropping 6.4% to $56.2 million. While Sparks dipped 2.7% in February, it is only 1% down for the fiscal year.
Sports betting put up a good showing amidst the broader declines. While sports wagers pooled in a statewide GGR of $41.3 million, a sub‑14% drop, mobile bets brought in $22.9 million, off 3.4%. The Strip also recorded $24.1 million in sports betting revenue, down by just 2%, even as mobile wagering dipped by 2% at $9.5 million. All these figures point to modest declines and an overall less notable drop in momentum, mostly thanks to the local enthusiasm of fans of online sportsbooks for year‑round leagues.
With the dust now fully settled over the year after Nevada hosted the Super Bowl, the state is looking to regain some momentum for a strong revenue generation run. Following a 9% drop in February GGR, operators must innovate to sustain growth or risk further declines. As the Strip sets out to diversify its entertainment offerings, local markets must continue to capitalize on their resilience to get back on track. While its sportsbooks and northern markets offer some much-needed respite, Nevada’s gaming industry still hopes for better numbers when the next results roll in.
