Given that gaming and visitation numbers declined during Formula One Las Vegas, expect to hear more discussion about the race throughout 2025.
Please click here to sign up for Indy Gaming.
November’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix race didn’t provide the expected business lift that a few Strip properties experienced from 2023’s inaugural event.
Visitation associated with the recent race was up less than 1 percent. However, hotel room rates were down more than 21 percent in the month and casino revenue fell by more than 4 percent.
A year ago, anticipation for the much-hyped race sent hotel room rates as high as four figures a night at several properties along the Strip that fronted a 2-mile stretch of the racing circuit.
That wasn’t the case a year later. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the average daily hotel room rate on the Strip was $212.49 — a 21.3 percent decline compared to the high-priced rates casinos offered in November 2023.
Las Vegas visitation still increased by less than 1 percent to 3.3 million in the month, but that was attributed to the calendar — November 2024 had 10 weekend days compared to eight a year earlier. Attendance at the grand prix was also slightly lower last year.
Strip casinos were filled with customers on F1 weekend, but they were attracted by other events. The Las Vegas Raiders hosted the Denver Broncos the Sunday following the race while entertainer Adele closed out her residency at the Caesars Palace Colosseum on race night.
Meanwhile, revenue per available room on the Strip fell more than 21 percent. That metric, which gauges profitability and spending habits, is often cited by the LVCVA and analysts.
The tipping point was inside Strip casinos, where the $788.7 million in revenue reported by the Gaming Control Board marked the Strip’s fifth straight monthly decrease.
In November 2023, high-end baccarat play that was fueled largely by F1 customers drove the Strip to its second-highest-ever monthly revenue total of $821 million. Control board senior research analyst Michael Lawton attributed November 2024’s decline to the game, which saw $145.7 million in revenue, down 18.3 percent from the previous November. Wagering on baccarat fell 8.7 percent to $856.7 million.
Baccarat hasn’t been a moneymaker much of the year for Strip casinos, with revenue declining for five consecutive months and six of the last seven months.
Lawton said November’s results all but ensure the Strip will see its first annual gaming revenue decline in three years. December 2024 was a single-month revenue record of $905.4 million for Strip, which he doesn’t expect to be matched when the figures are released at the end of January.
LVCVA Vice President of Research Kevin Bagger, however, tried to put a positive spin on November’s results noting that the average daily room rate for the overall market — Strip and downtown hotels — was $198.72, the second-highest on record.
“[There were] tougher comparisons due to the prior year’s record levels as a result of the inaugural F1,” wrote J.P. Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff in a research note.
Passenger volume at Harry Reid International Airport declined for the third straight month with the facility welcoming 4.7 million passengers — the third-lowest monthly total this year. Still, the airport is trending 1.4 percent ahead of last year’s record 57.6 million passengers thanks to a 13.6 percent increase in international travelers through November.
One analyst said it wasn’t all bad news for the race that will return this year on Nov. 22.
“Historically, November represents the slowest month for gaming revenue in the back half of the year,” Jordan Bender of JMP Securities wrote in a research note this month. “But with F1 now on the calendar, the month is now more impactful for Las Vegas [resort] operators.”
Merger offer for Howard Hughes Holdings could have Nevada implications
One of the largest shareholders in Texas-based Howard Hughes Holdings made an unsolicited acquisition offer Monday for the company, which has significant business interests in Nevada.
Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund controlled by billionaire investor Bill Ackman that owns 38 percent of Howard Hughes, offered to pay stockholders $85 per share. Under the deal, Pershing Square is offering to merge a newly formed subsidiary with Howard Hughes as a private enterprise.
In a statement, the Hughes board said it formed a committee of independent directors “to evaluate the proposal and determine the appropriate course of action and process.”
Hughes is the developer behind the Summerlin community in Las Vegas. Last year, the company spun off its Seaport Entertainment division into a separate and independent public company, which includes the Las Vegas Aviators minor league baseball team, the 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark in downtown Summerlin and 80 percent of the air rights above the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip. Seaport said the air rights would allow for the development of a casino, but has not said how the project would be incorporated into the mall or if it would replace part of the mall.
Howard Hughes, along with Sony Pictures, is also one of the proponents behind legislation that would provide a massive expansion of Nevada’s film tax credit program. Sony and Hughes want to build the studio in Summerlin.
Pershing first invested in Howard Hughes in November 2010, spending $250 million. In his offer, Ackman called Hughes’ stock price performance “extremely disappointing.”
Shares of Howard Hughes rose more than 9.5 percent on the New York Stock Exchange following the announcement Monday.
Wynn acquires London casino with an eye toward UAE
Wynn Resorts has acquired a small high-end casino in London as a prelude toward attracting European customers to its planned $5.1 billion resort in the United Arab Emirates.
The company did not announce a purchase price for Crown London, a members-only casino that spans two townhouses in London’s upscale Mayfair district. The casino has 20 gaming tables in private salons and a small restaurant and lounge.
In a research note, CBRE gaming analyst John DeCree said the London casino draws “very high-end VIP gaming customers” from the United Kingdom, Asia, India and the Middle East. He wrote the deal gives Wynn “a flag in a gateway city” that should help extend the company’s global database and brand in the region.
“This is a high-end gaming asset with high-intent customers, making it a more deliberate customer acquisition channel relative to a branded hotel strategy or partnership,” DeCree wrote.
Wynn Al Marjan Island, which is under construction in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, is expected to open in 2027. It is currently the only casino resort under development in a country where almost three-quarters of its population adheres to Islam — a religion that considers gambling a harmful activity.
What I’m reading
🎰 Will Texas Legislature expand gambling? Here are key players in 2025 — Aarón Torres, The Dallas Morning News
Through October, Las Vegas Sands majority owner Miriam Adelson spent $13.7 million funding two political action committees that distributed money to lawmakers and candidates in Texas.
💳 You can now book The Venetian Resort Las Vegas through Hyatt — Tanner Saunders, The Points Guy
World of Hyatt members can now earn points and use their existing balance at The Venetian and The Palazzo on the Strip.
🛥️ Indiana lawmaker introduces bill to allow Full House to move its casino — Joe Carroll, WANE15-CBS
The company believes the casino would be much more profitable in a different Indiana market.
News, notes and quotes
👎 Eilers & Krejcik: No sports betting or online gaming expansion in 2025
A Southern California gaming research firm wrote in a report that efforts this year to expand sports betting and online casinos in the U.S. will result in a “goose egg” for the industry. Analysts for Eilers & Krejcik Gaming predicted that “the negative press accompanying calls for tighter regulation complicates [the] already challenging online gambling expansion discussions in key states.” The firm expects current efforts in Georgia, Texas, Maryland and New York for different forms of gaming to all fail.
🚛 Truck stop casinos get new slot route operator
Illinois-based J&J Gaming completed its previously announced purchase of Northern Nevada’s Leisure Gaming, which runs 10 truck stop casino locations along Interstate 80. After acquiring Golden Entertainment’s route business last year, J&J is Nevada’s largest slot route operator. Leisure’s business covers more than 640 slot machines at Fernley Pilot, Winnemucca Pilot and Roadhouse, Carlin Pilot, Elko Roadhouse, Wendover Pilot, Lucky’s in Ely, Wells and Fernley and USA Parkway Lucky’s inside the One9 Travel Center.
