Las Vegas Gaming Revenue Hasn't Hit Bottom

The struggling economy continues to pound Las Vegas as well as Nevada overall. Las Vegas isn't the only gambling center suffering - Atlantic City and Macau are also suffering revenue declines. The advantages of those other venues is their close proximity to very large populations. Nevada is still a draw, but not a quick commute from Southern California as Atlantic City is from New York. The Bloomberg article has the full details.

With jobless claims still rising, the economy has not bottomed. The temporary slight drop in the unemployment rate is just that, temporary. Do not be surprised if unemployment doesn't break the 10% level or higher before the economy turns.

Perhaps the folks in Las Vegas should read an earlier post concerning what Nevada can do to exploit a latent sustainable competitive advantage. What Vegas can't do is think they can just ride out this storm. There are secular trends that are impacting Nevada that can't be ignored. If they just keep offering what they offer, or cut prices, that will easily be matched by competing venues and the final result will be worse than the situation before the price cutting.

However, if you would like to visit Las Vegas, you are likely not going to get any better deals than now.