Nevada casino gaming revenue rose significantly from May to June, although the year-on-year comparison is still downright fugly.

Figures released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) show the state’s casinos generated gaming revenue of $566.8m in June, a 45.5% fall from the same month last year. However, it’s more than 100 times better than the sum reported in May 2020, the last month in which all venues were shut due to COVID-19.

While casinos may have been allowed to reopen on June 4, they were subject to capacity restrictions as well as being forced to rely on ‘drive-in’ customers from neighboring states as COVID-19 fears continued to deter many customers from further afield from getting on airplanes.  

The reliance on customers closer to home was reflected in the regional breakdown, with Las Vegas Strip casino revenue falling 61.4% and Downtown Vegas falling 55.6%, while other Clark County regions suffered far more modest declines. The situation was even better in Washoe County, where Reno’s revenue was down only 8.5% and Sparks slipped only 2.3%.