UNLV-Econ-WPS-2026-014
Las Vegas Casino Revenue in an Expanding Gambling Market
Working paper notice: This paper is a preliminary research output. It has undergone editorial screening but has not undergone external peer review. It may be revised.
Paper record
- Issue
- Spring 2026
- Repository issue
- Volume 3, Issue 2
- Series number
- UNLV-Econ-WPS-2026-014
- Citable publication date
- OAsis online date
- Current version
- Current version ·
- Research field
- Industrial Organization
- Pages
- 1-11
Abstract
This study examines whether expanding gambling substitutes disrupt the Las Vegas gambling industry using quarterly data from 2014 through 2025. Las Vegas casino revenue is used as the benchmark to gauge the health of Las Vegas, adjusted to Quarter 1 2014 dollars and using an OLS regression model. The results imply that online sports betting is a poor substitute for Las Vegas revenue, while online gambling shows a positive and statistically significant relationship with revenue. The findings indicate that Las Vegas is resilient despite the introduction of more competition and gambling alternatives within an industry it has traditionally known to dominate.
Keywords
Las Vegas, gambling substitutes, online gambling, online sports betting, casino revenue
Version history
- Current version Current