Nevada's casinos achieved a remarkable $1.27 billion in gaming revenue for August 2026, marking a 3.14% increase compared to the same month last year, despite a drop in visitor numbers to Las Vegas.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board disclosed that nonrestricted gaming licensees earned $1,266,105,114 during the month, up from $1,227,573,173 in August 2025. This figure represents the total amount won by casinos operating over 15 slot machines, encompassing earnings from slots, table games, and sports betting.
Southern Nevada contributed nearly 84% of the total state revenue, with Clark County alone reporting $1.06 billion in gaming wins, a rise of 2.8%. In contrast, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority noted that the city welcomed 3 million visitors in August, reflecting a 4.3% decline from the previous year. Officials attributed part of this decrease to the Labor Day holiday weekend primarily occurring in September this year, unlike in August 2025.
Hotel occupancy rates dipped by 3.4 percentage points to 74.1%, and the average daily room rate fell by 7.4% to $150.32. For the first eight months of 2026, occupancy remained steady at 80.4%, while room rates increased by 1.9% to $183.60 per night. However, convention attendance saw a positive trend during this period.
“We observed a 6% year-over-year increase in convention attendance, partly due to scheduling changes, including the CHAMPS trade show, which moved to August this year from July last year, attracting 24,000 attendees,” stated Kevin Bagger, research director at LVCVA.
Gaming performance varied across the state. Revenue from the Las Vegas Strip rose by 0.7% to $684.1 million, whereas downtown Las Vegas experienced a 3% decrease to $61.5 million. Boulder Strip properties saw a significant increase of 17.4% to $83.2 million, Laughlin rose by 9.9% to $39.9 million, while Mesquite recorded a slight decline of 1.3% to $15.6 million.
Reno reported a 15.7% increase to $79.4 million, while South Lake Tahoe, Elko County, and the Carson Valley Area all experienced declines. Shelley Newell, a senior economic analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board, noted that downtown Las Vegas operators reported lower foot traffic and reduced volumes in slots and table games, while Boulder Strip casinos benefited from a higher hold on slot machines.
“Nevada continues to surpass pre-pandemic gaming win levels this month,” Newell remarked. “The total statewide win was 32.8% or $312.4 million higher than August 2019, marking the 66th consecutive month that the state has recorded over $1 billion in monthly gaming win.”
For the first two months of the 2026-27 fiscal year, statewide gaming win increased by 2.58%. The Strip saw a 2.2% rise, downtown Las Vegas fell by 6%, while Boulder Strip increased by 6.6%.
The state collected $72.6 million in percentage fees in September based on August's gaming revenue, a decrease of 5.98% from the previous year. Fiscal-year collections through September 21 amounted to $256.8 million, down 1.31%, excluding $1.83 million in transferable tax credits.