July would have been a good month for the Las Vegas Strip were it not for a wipeout at baccarat: down 26% on 15% less wagering, so luck was definitely not with the house. Overall, Strip revenues were up 1.5% ($542 million). Part 
of that was driven by good slot winnings, 6.5% higher on 5.5% more coin-in. Table games other than baccarat rose 5% on 6.5% higher wagering. Downtown ($52.5 million) jumped 7.5%—this market has made a really impressive comeback—while North Las Vegas was flat at $27 million. The Boulder Strip ($82 million) grew 4% and miscellaneous Clark County had a 3% uptick to $103.5 million. Laughlin bounced 6% to $44 million, Lake Tahoe vaulted 17% to $35 million and Reno picked up a percentage point to finish at $57 million.
Helping to drive the southern Nevada numbers was a record July number of air passengers trekking through McCarran International Airport. This is only the second time that 4.5 million passengers have been logged at McCarran. So far McCarran is running 3% ahead of last year, with 29,787,057 passengers recorded. The only fly in the butter was a 1% decline in international passengers. Incidentally, I see that the Las Vegas Raiders‘ stadium is to be named after Allegiant Airlines. How apt. One of the NFL‘s worst teams playing in an arena named after McCarran’s worst airline.
* Churchill Downs has joined the scrum (six applicants) of contenders for a Waukegan gaming license. That means that passing up the opportunity to add as many as 1,200 VLTs at Arlington International Racecourse. I was surprised but, in light of the Waukegan move, JP Morgan analyst Daniel Politzer wasn’t. As at Rivers Casino Des Plains, the envisioned Waukegan casino would be a joint venture of Churchill Downs and Rush Street Gaming.
According to Politzer, “we believe CHDN forgoing gaming at Arlington and instead expanding Rivers and pursuing/obtaining the Waukegan license allows the company to (1) avoid cannibalizing Rivers Des Plaines (61% ownership), while (2) still tapping into Chicago’s wealthy northern suburbs (and Milwaukee/Kenosha), and (3) operate 2,000 gaming positions vs. just 1,200 allowed at Arlington. CHDN’s long-term plan for Arlington is TBD, but the company noted that ‘All options will be considered, including moving the racing license to another community in the Chicagoland area or elsewhere in the state.'” In other words, expanding gaming isn’t going to do bupkis for racetracks in the great Chicago area, political promises to the contrary notwithstanding.
