Casino Foot Traffic Slows 10 Percent in July, Second-Worst Month of 2025
Posted on: August 13, 2025, 10:56h.
Last updated on: August 13, 2025, 11:02h.
- Casino foot traffic slowed by almost 10% in July
- That’s according to a leading gaming analyst at Jefferies Equity Research
- Las Vegas’ near-term outlook is bearish
The number of people who entered casinos last month was far fewer than the number of people who entered casinos in July 2024.
Gaming analysts regularly monitor the number of people patronizing casinos in commercial gaming states. Their reports are compiled based on casino regulatory disclosures and floor checks that utilize technology designed to track visitor inflows.
Jefferies Equity Research Managing Director David Katz reports a slowdown in foot traffic for July. Katz estimates that there were 10% fewer casino entries in July 2025 compared with July 2024. Only February was worse.
Casinos in Illinois experienced the largest slowdown, with foot traffic plunging more than 13% year over year. Visitation to Atlantic City’s nine casinos dropped 8.5%, while the three properties in Detroit counted about 8% fewer guests. Nevada casinos were in line with the national average.
Countrywide, total casino visitation for the brick-and-mortar commercial gaming industry was 19.9% below 2019 levels.
Casino Cautions
Las Vegas has been quiet of late, with social media rampant with videos and photos showing an at-times lifeless Strip and downtown. While June ended a four-month gross gaming revenue (GGR) slide, July, which hasn’t yet been reported, is expected to again be negative.
Over the past 12 months, GGR for Clark County was down 1%. On the Las Vegas Strip, casino win was 3% lower.
Katz thinks regional gaming markets are better suited for a near-term bounce back than S. Las Vegas Blvd.
We continue to believe regional gaming is better positioned for growth in the near term compared to Las Vegas, where expectations for the Strip are confirmed to be low,” Katz wrote.
The outlook for August and the remainder of 2025 is mixed. The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that after real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.5% in the first quarter of 2025, real GDP in the second quarter grew by 3%.
“The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a decrease in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and an increase in consumer spending. These movements were partly offset by decreases in investment and exports,” the BEA’s Q2 Perspective read.
The BEA relayed that the price index for gross domestic purchases, a measure of inflation in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, rose 1.9% in the second quarter. The nearly 2% increase could result in reduced consumer spending on leisure activities like gaming.
Online Casinos Hurting Business?
Online, unregulated gaming websites could be partially responsible for a bit of the in-person casino traffic downturn.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported Wednesday that illegal gambling is estimated to make up nearly a third of the US gaming market, costing states more than $15 billion in lost tax revenue a year.
Illegal gambling operators are thriving at the expense of American consumers, siphoning billions in tax revenue from state governments, and undercutting the efforts of the legal market,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “It’s time for a national crackdown on the pervasive illegal market that is draining state coffers and putting people at risk.”
The AGA estimates that illegal online casinos and sportsbooks generate annual revenue of $23.6 billion.
Last Comment ( 1 )
Excellent article and a perfect example of cause and effect, Devin! When the Happy Valley Casino in State College, PA opens in April 2026 they should expect the negative financial impact. The owners of the Happy Valley Casino will hope for casino revenue to accelerate, only to have their hopes dashed by the increasing popularity of online gambling. When that same casino developer in State College bid for the right to apply for a slot machine license in September 2020, the growing popularity of online gambling was never anticipated. That harsh reality will be realized when it results in the eventual closure of the unwanted casino. Doubters should focus closely on the fact that the Happy Valley Casino is being built in a former Macy’s department store in the dying Nittany Mall. Who does that anyway? Nobody.