The Las Vegas Strip had one of its best months in May with gross gaming revenue 13.2 percent ahead of last year, boosting state revenue by 7.4 percent over 2025 totals.

Strip revenue of $807.9 million was the eighth-best month in history, pushing the state’s total to $1.39 billion, the seventh-best month ever, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Monday. The increase virtually assures the state that revenue from the 2025-26 fiscal year will surpass the previous year’s $15.64 billion won by the state’s 464 largest casinos despite that there are now 17 fewer nonrestricted casinos operating statewide now than there were a year ago.

The amount won on the Strip was the best so far this calendar year and the best recorded since the $827.7 million won in December.

Visitation for May was up 2 percent to 3.5 million people, boosted by a 14.7 percent increase in convention attendance, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Monday. It was the highest monthly total this year, and nearly every visitation metric was better this year than a year ago.

Statewide, the amount won by casinos was second only to March this calendar year.

The Strip take was the second-best percentage increase among markets monitored by the state, with South Lake Tahoe up 23.5 percent to $16.7 million in May.

The Reno and outlying Elko County markets also had double-digit percentage increases, up 11.1 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.

The Strip’s performance boosted revenue generated in Clark County by 7.4 percent to $1.2 billion and helped offset disappointing performances in outlying Clark County (down 5.6 percent to $164.4 million), Laughlin (down 5.2 percent to $41 million) and downtown Las Vegas (down 4.2 percent to $63.9 million).

Statewide, only one of the 20 markets monitored by the Control Board has won less than it did a year ago — North Lake Tahoe, which is down 8.1 percent to $21.4 million. The best performing market statewide is outlying Washoe County, which is up 9.1 percent to $90.4 million.

The best performing market in Southern Nevada was Mesquite, up 6.9 percent to $192.6 million.

Shelley Newell, senior economic analyst with the Control Board, said the special entertainment events that continue to draw crowds to the Strip, was the catalyst for the gaming revenue increase.

Several factors contributed to the Strip’s big month, including a variety of high-profile entertainers performing in Strip venues.

The Electric Daisy Carnival drew thousands of out-of-town attendees to Las Vegas Motor Speedway May 15-17. Popular South Korean boy band BTS starred at Allegiant Stadium May 23-28. The Academy of Country Music Awards took place on May 17 at MGM Grand’s Garden Arena. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace played host to Cyndi Lauper, Blake Shelton, David Spade with Nikki Glaser and Rod Stewart throughout the month with Phish, No Doubt and “The Wizard of Oz” drawing crowds to the Sphere. T-Mobile Arena hosted the Benevidez-Zurdo boxing match May 2 as well as the Stanley Cup playoff rounds against the Colorado Avalanche May 24 and 26.

Pop in a three-day weekend for Memorial Day, and the Strip was a wildly busy place during the month, Newell said.

The after-event gambling enabled the Strip to increase slot machine play by 9.9 percent and slot win by 7.8 percent. Baccarat drop increased 29.9 percent, and casino win was up 58.6 percent, in part because the hold percentage expanded from 16.1 percent last year to 19.7 percent this year.

Table games on the Strip also went up with drop climbing 12.5 percent with win up 19.4 percent, thanks to games hold increasing from 15.5 percent last year to 16.4 percent this year.

Statewide, sports betting declined with wagers off 5.4 percent and win down 17.2 percent, and the hold percentage declined to 7.1 percent from 8.1 percent a year ago.

The collection of the 6.75 percent tax on gross gaming winnings is important to the state because collected taxes are routed to the state’s general fund. Taxes collected as of June 23 had reached $89.5 million, the fourth-best month for the fiscal year.

Collections from May bumped the total tax collected for the fiscal year to over $1 billion.

May collections were 19.1 percent ahead of May 2025 and raised the 11-month total to $1.04 billion, 5.1 percent ahead of the previous year.

The 3.5 million visitors recorded in May brought the annual total to 16.5 million, 0.3 percent ahead of where it was a year ago.

The hotel occupancy rate and the average daily room rate both rose from last year with occupancy, boosted by weekend visitation going up 1.7 percentage points to 84.7 percent. The average daily room rate climbed 6.3 percent to $210.63 a night.

Sold-out entertainment events contributed to the high level of visitation.

“With highlights including the sold-out Electric Daisy Carnival 30th anniversary and inaugural World Party Parade, four sold-out BTS World Tour ‘Ararang’ concerts at Allegiant Stadium alongside the citywide BTS The City fan festival, and the Vegas Golden Knights Conference Finals, Las Vegas welcomed nearly 3.5 million visitors in May,” said Kevin Bagger, vice president of the LVCVA Research Center.

“Convention attendance for the month was up 14.7 percent from last May, supported by recurring shows such as Knowledge, International Council of Shopping Centers Las Vegas and Licensing International Expo (each with 25,000 attendees), along with several new or rotating shows such as the Sweets and Snacks Expo (16,000) and Champs Trade Show (11,000).”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.