The house always wins, or so the saying goes. But how much does it win exactly? And, if it “always wins,” why are casinos going bankrupt and closing doors so often? Lastly, which casinos do we mean? After all, there is a world of difference between Sin City’s biggest powerhouses and your average state border casino. We will try to cover all that below.
And while we’ll focus on the revenue and profit of some of the biggest casinos on the planet, we’ll also touch on what makes smaller casinos and online casinos tick.
How Much Do the Biggest Land-Based Casinos on the Planet Earn?
When it comes to the biggest casinos in Las Vegas, Macau, or anywhere else, the main thing to keep in mind is the difference between revenue and profit. While these luxurious casinos attract many people and can make eye-watering revenue, their expenses are similarly significant. The costs related to property, salaries, maintenance, bills, security, and marketing for a high-end casino in a big city can be staggering. That, plus the often stiff competition, is why some major casinos go down despite making seemingly respectable revenue.
This is not to say that many big land-based casinos don’t make healthy profits, of course. Those who can weather the competition certainly rake it in, even after the steep expenses. Besides, luxurious casinos often come with additional amenities such as hotel rooms, restaurants, shopping centers, and so on. Those aren’t officially counted in the casino’s revenue, but you can rest assured that the casino’s owners don’t ignore such things.
Still, if we are to focus on the casinos themselves, let us take a look at exactly how much money we’re talking about for some of the world’s biggest casinos.
1. The Venetian – Macau, China
While Americans are used to thinking of Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world, Macau casinos earn about three times higher annual revenues than their Nevada counterparts. That is $36 billion to $12 billion as of 2023, to be exact. As the largest casino floor in Macau, The Venetian is a big part of that success. As of November 2023, Sands China has reported profits of $252 million from The Venetian for the year – that’s profits, not revenue. That same casino had a pretty bad 2022, however, as it had a net loss of $21 million, but that was an exception for The Venetian, as it tends to be one of the highest-grossing casinos in Macau.
2. Bellagio – Las Vegas, USA
As of the end of 2023, the daily revenue of the Las Vegas Bellagio is estimated to be around $1.27 million. This is an average, however, since the Bellagio makes up to $10 million on certain days. The high season for Las Vegas is typically from March to May and September to November. Outside of that, the Bellagio and other major Vegas casinos can have additional high-revenue days whenever there are certain special events going on in the city, which attracts additional tourists.
3. Foxwoods – Connecticut, USA
Foxwoods’ revenues have been going up and down rather frantically ever since the 2020 pandemic. Yet, even with all that commotion, the famous casino is quite profitable. For example, Foxwoods’ reported revenues from the final quarter of 2021 were $159.9 million, meaning daily revenues of $2.58 million.
4. City of Dreams – Macau, China
Another of the big hitters in Macau is the City of Dreams. This luxurious dreamland frequently records quarterly revenues of anywhere between $100 million and $500 million. For example, in the second quarter of 2022, the City of Dreams had $97.3 million in quarterly revenue, meaning around $32 million per month or a little over a million a day. Again – that’s revenue, not profits. The same quarter in 2023, however, brought a total revenue of $506.2 million for the City of Dreams, or daily revenue of $8.3 million.
How About Smaller Casinos?
A small-town casino obviously doesn’t make the sky-high revenues of The Venetian or the Bellagio, nor does it reach the same profits. Interestingly enough, however, smaller casinos can sometimes have much more stable long-term financial circumstances than a Las Vegas high-end casino. A big reason for that is their expenses are usually less intensive.
Property or rent, salaries and bills, security, marketing – all of these can be drastically lower for smaller casinos, especially since they often have much less competition to deal with. So, while the daily revenue of a regional casino is typically within the $50,000 to $500,000 range, that’s usually more than enough to keep the business going.
How About Online Casinos?
Many people view online casinos as the bane of brick-and-mortar casinos. Indeed, as online casinos keep rising in popularity, the revenues of land-based ones keep decreasing. Especially since the 2020 pandemic and with the increased enthusiasm for sports betting, online casinos and sportsbooks are making millions of dollars daily.
What’s more, unlike land-based casinos, an online site has significantly lower expenses, which further increases its profits. This, consequently, is why there are more lucrative deals, bonuses, lower fees, and a generally better RTP (return to player) at a typical online establishment such as a Tipico NJ casino than there are at a Las Vegas luxurious casino hotel.
In Closing
All in all, casinos are high-risk, high-reward businesses, not just for the gamblers but for the casinos’ owners as well. Still, when a big casino starts getting really successful, the sums of money it can make on a daily basis are truly astronomical.
