If Apr-16 was Easy Y:Y Comparison, May-16 was Opposite.
While Apr-16 has a significant calendar advantage to Apr-15 by gaining a Friday and Saturday. As much as Apr-16 had an extra Friday and Saturday, May-16 as compared to May-15 showed the calendar losing both a Friday and Saturday while gaining a Monday and Tuesday. For most regional properties the net effect of the above equates to between a -3% to -5% decline before any other issues. Nationally, our data shows a -1.5% decline.
2016 National Gaming Growth Forecast
The drivers for the casino gaming industry: employment, income and gas prices are in a favorable position although we see gas prices gaining in Apr-2016 but still around or under $2/gallon. That said the 5% growth for YTD thru December for 2015 may be somewhat unrealistic to achieve in 2016. Given the lackluster results in Apr-2016, we are maintaining our 2016 forecast range to growth of between +1% to +3% and YTD, the country is at +2%. Nationally, YTD comparison to same time last year, our data shows +2%. Recent News: For May-16 vs May-15, nationwide markets showed a few states with gains as most declined. The largest decline was in middle part of US. NV had an excellent month. Mississippi – In May-16, the Gulf coast region gained +4% helped by opening a new facility in Dec-2015. That said the Gulf region gain was the only gain as the rest of MS and all of LA declined as compared to May- 15. Louisiana, with the opening of the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles past one year, is experiencing declining net results. Florida is showing gains, however this needs to be tempered with Dania coming back online in Jan-2016.
JSA calculates monthly trends in adjusted total win for all states. We use adjusted total win for a variety of reasons but mostly to provide a consistent basis. Many states report combined slot and table revenue and our reporting reflects same. Some states separate slot and table win and where this occurs we report the combined total. The exceptions to the separate slot and table win are NJ and NV where table revenue is a large component of total win and often generates very volatile results. So for better picture of the overall market for NJ and NV results, slot revenue is reported.
For this G&L report, we use the published figure by the agency and we do not factor out new properties opening or properties closing. For our clients or those in need of specialty research, we can provide “same store” breakdowns where available. That is to say, by excluding new outlets or outlets which have since closed, comparisons are on equal footing making data more directly comparable. We hope you find the information useful. If you have any questions or needs in regards to this information, do not hesitate to contact us.
Jay Sarno has 20+ years of experience in the Hospitality and Gaming Industry. Jay consults on casino marketing segmentation programs, software product development and technology solutions evaluations, selections and implementations. Jay has implemented over 20 data warehouse systems and currently also teaches courses in Hospitality Management for Richard Stockton College of NJ. Jay can be reached at JSA2002@comcast.net and welcomes your comments and questions.