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After a fortnight of closures following the instruction of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, the casinos in Vegas look to be next in line to approach the US government to request a bailout amidst fears that the lockdown could be extended and cause monetary issues going forward. The American Gaming Association had issued a statement that for each month the tourism industry is shut down in Nevada, they experience a $4.7 billion economic loss - and as we approach the end of the first month, it’s looking increasingly likely that the lockdown will be extended throughout a large part of April.
Analysts have taken the opportunity to look at the casino and resort suspected figures which all suggest that they are all mostly very safe - with one of the few determining factors being future employee cuts - however many will also want to stay as prepared as possible in the event that the lockdown is lifted, so they are able to re-open as soon as possible. There are many that will be eagerly waiting for this too - laws throughout the US are historically rather strict, and on a state-by-state basis. Many do not allow online gambling or casino play alongside their restriction on brick and mortar locations - Nevada has typically been very lax in this regard as the desert state built its fortunes on the trade - Legalbetting.com review a number of casinos widely available to their residents, as the Western Coast state is a hotspot for punters partaking in online real money casino games.
One question that may be on the minds of many, however, is what will happen in the event that the Nevada lockdown is lifted - the casino industry still relies heavily on tourism as the biggest driving force, if other countries remain on lockdown or if flights and borders remain cancelled and closed for a prolonged period of time, casino owners could find themselves opening their doors to customers who just aren’t there - if preparations are made to allow people back inside, including re-hiring staff that may have been let go in the midst of the shutdown, it is entirely possible that they could experience heavier losses than if they were to remain closed. As unemployment continues to rise, it is also likely that any domestic gamblers that the industry relied on to prop itself up during times of low tourism, may be unable to attend the establishments as they also try to get their feet back underneath them.
The hospitality industry was also one of the first to approach the government seeking financial aid - hotels and restaurants were amongst the first asked to close to help with prevention measures - whilst the casino and resorts have shown they may be able to display some resilience through this, the hotels and restaurants may not be so lucky as it is entirely likely that some will have to close their doors permanently as they cannot afford to re-open. Many are in fear of what the outcome could be as sin city has never experienced anything like this before - it was able to avoid shutdown during the September 11 attacks, it survived through the 2008 recession without taking much of a hit, and was able to continue normal operation through the mass shooting event in 2017 - but the current event may be too much for some.
It isn’t only those that like to travel for gambling that have been impacted by this either - many locations support musicians and sports events that have also had to be cancelled during this shutdown - this could cause further complications as many will now be submitting requests to cancel previously booked getaways as the list of events disrupted grow.
One thing to be said, however, is that the initial goal for the president to end the lockdown in as many areas as possible by Easter Sunday was very prematurely optimistic as we are now saying day-on-day increases in reported cases for coronavirus - if it is to be considered that the US is now a number of weeks behind European counterparts that are being heavily impacted such as Italy and Spain, it is likely that predicted dates of lockdowns being lifted more toward summer time are likely - and trying to survive for an additional 12 weeks maybe be a prospect very bleak for many.
