Las Vegas Recover Stalls With New COVD Restrictions
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Las Vegas sees its worst year on record as coronavirus restrictions continue to hit the city hard with limited tourism and casino capacity in 2020. Sin City hit another set back as Gov. Steve Sisolak reduced casinos’ capacity from 50% to 25%.
The restrictions come as Nevada sees its worst surge in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in March and will take place at 12:01 AM Tuesday.
In Clark County, casinos have seen a 40% drop in revenue through the first three quarters of 2020. The losses have added up to over $2 billion. The city is also seeing fewer people travel there as estimates have 3.5 million fewer people have been to Las Vegas this year.
The year has already been rough for Las Vegas, but it will end terribly as Sisolak has new restrictions put in for the next three weeks.
Lockdown Restrictions
Tuesday will begin a three-week restriction on the capacity for casinos, restaurants, and other entertainment venues around the state. Everywhere will be limited to 25% capacity after the state could get up to 50% over the last few months. Social gatherings are limited to 10 people with no more than two households involved.
“While prioritizing the health and safety of Nevadans, I am also balancing the significant ramifications that further restrictions will have on our suffering economy. No state struggles with this more than Nevada due to the lack of diversity in our economy,” Sisolak tweeted out Sunday night.
The state saw 2,151 positive coronavirus cases on Sunday, making it the second-highest total since the pandemic started. Gov. Sisolak also said that he is looking to do everything possible to stop the virus’s spread. Sisolak is also trying to help businesses bring in some revenue during this time to not go out of business. He’s trying to do his best to help find balance while coronavirus still has a strong U.S. presence.
Las Vegas No Longer Gaming Leader?
This year, New Jersey passed Las Vegas’ for best betting handle twice, once in September and then again in October. The Garden State saw over $800 million in bets in October. Las Vegas and Nevada are not seeing numbers even close to what New Jersey is doing this year.
Even the online casino industry is dominating New Jersey since the coronavirus pandemic keeps everyone at home. Nevada and the Las Vegas area has not been able to keep up with New Jersey and has now been passed by Atlantic City for gaming capital of the U.S.
Now, people will still view Las Vegas as the gaming Mecca, but the numbers still say differently. One of the big issues of why this transition has happened is because of online gaming. Las Vegas casinos have simply not adopted online gaming compared to New Jersey.
Almost 90% of the betting that is going on in the Garden State is happening online. Atlantic City casinos see the same lockdown restrictions that Nevada is seeing, yet, New Jersey is bringing all of its revenue online. Now, Las Vegas is suffering tremendously due to COVID, while Atlantic City is staying afloat. Las Vegas has not adopted online gaming, and it is starting the hurt the city more than ever.