The woes surrounding Las Vegas tourism are continuing in 2026, as the latest round of gaming and visitation numbers from Nevada again showed declines across the board.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state posted gross gaming revenue of $1.34 billion in January, a 6.5% decrease year-over-year. Revenues on the Las Vegas Strip fell 11% year-over-year to $747.6 million, its largest monthly percentage decrease since February 2025. Strip baccarat GGR, typically a key indicator of the market’s performance month-to-month, plunged 44% YoY to $118.5 million. In baccarat, the state held 13% in January compared with a whopping 27% during the same month last year. Statewide GGR is flat through this point in the fiscal year, while the Strip is -1%.
More broadly, southern Nevada’s other main markets also struggled in January, including downtown Las Vegas ($75.4 million, -5%), the locals market ($165.6 million, -3%) and Boulder City ($81.2 million, -7%). All three are still positive through this point in the fiscal year.
Las Vegas’ visitation total for the month declined 2% to 3.2 million, per the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Occupancy figures were mostly down but some business metrics were positive for the Strip, such as average daily room rates (+7%) and revenue per available room (+3.5%).
Total air traffic to Harry Reid International Airport declined 8% in January, and international traffic slid 19% from last year. The bankruptcy of budget carrier Spirit Airlines, whose traffic dropped 74%, continued to drag on domestic performance, while double-digit declines from all major Canadian and Mexican airlines highlighted international struggles.
Mixed results among Las Vegas business segments
From a business perspective, Las Vegas has seen mixed results so far as fourth-quarter earnings season comes to a close.
All of the market’s “Big 3” operators – Wynn, MGM and Caesars – reported declines in their Las Vegas performance in Q4, while local operators like Red Rock Resorts and Boyd Gaming continued their multi-year stretch of success for the quarter and full year. The figures underscore a continuing trend over the last 18 months as non-Strip markets have largely bolstered the region.
Before reporting season began, Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon predicted that 2025 Q4 earnings risks would be “to the downside for Vegas segments”, although he asserted that Boyd and Red Rock were “positioned to outperform current Q4 consensus estimates”.
Following the reports, Beynon raised the price target for MGM while lowering targets for Wynn and Caesars. All three, however, maintained “outperform” ratings.
Sports betting impacted by prediction markets?
Aside from casino performance, Las Vegas and Nevada as a whole have not had good sports betting luck in 2026. Statewide sports betting GGR fell 11% YoY in January, led primarily by a 27% drop in football betting revenue during the NFL and college football playoffs. In Las Vegas, the Strip’s sports betting GGR fell 17% to $27.9 million, with a 40% drop in football revenue.
The full February figures have yet to be released, but the NGCB announced on 9 February that state sportsbooks posted Super Bowl revenue of $9.8 million, less than half of last year’s winnings from the big game ($22.1 million).
This was a tough comparison given that the hold percentage in 2025 (14.6%) was the best in the last 10 years. At the same time, the overall handle of $133.8 million in 2026 was also the lowest in that span. While there were several factors that likely contributed to that total, the rise of sports-event contracts on prediction markets might have played a role in that decline.
The American Gaming Association, the industry’s biggest lobbying group, estimates that prediction markets have siphoned more than $560 million in would-be state taxes so far across the US.
Nevada is involved in litigation with prediction markets Kalshi, Crypto.com, Robinhood and Polymarket, and was the first state to begin sending cease-and-desists to prediction platforms last spring.
Jess Marquez
Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/las-vegas-january-numbers/
