Nevada Gaming Control Board briefs Senate committee on gaming taxes, revenue trends and emerging products

Kirk Hendrick, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, told the Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development in Carson City that the board collects all gaming taxes and fees on behalf of the state and enforces gaming laws on a 24/7 basis.

The board’s presentation gave the committee an overview of the agency’s organization and revenue collections. "For fiscal year 24 the state collected over $1,200,000,000 in gaming taxes and fees," said Sebastian Ross, board senior policy counsel, while explaining the board’s breakdown of charges and statutory sources. The presentation identified percentage fees, live-entertainment tax and the annual slot tax as the largest revenue categories.

The board described its six divisions and their duties: administration (finance, training and legal research), audit (Group 1 audits on a roughly 2½–3 year cycle), enforcement (about 100 POST-certified peace officers conducting criminal and regulatory investigations), investigations (applicant reviews, public-company monitoring), Tax and License (collects taxes, audits Group 2 licensees and oversees restricted locations), and technology (product testing and forensic support).

On technical questions from senators, Chief Chan Ling Savath, chief of the Tax and License Division, said devices that host multiple games are treated as a single slot machine for tax and counting purposes: "because it's 1 slot machine, it's only 1 player playing at a time. So ... it counts as just 1 slot machine." The committee pressed whether statutes have been updated to reflect multi-game devices; the board replied the statutory definition has not materially changed since earlier decades.

Mike Lawton, senior economic analyst for the board, provided year-to-date fiscal updates. "Currently fiscal year to date through February, in terms of percentage fee collections, yeah, we're slightly down, about 3% or $30,200,000," Lawton said, adding that comparisons with FY24 are difficult because FY24 included atypical events (F1 and the Super Bowl) and exceptionally high baccarat hold. He also noted December set an all-time monthly record for gaming win and that the state has recorded dozens of consecutive months with gaming win at or above $1 billion.

Committee members asked about mobile sports wagering and interactive gaming. The board explained that mobile sports wagering must be geo‑blocked to within Nevada and that interactive poker operates under a multistate compact; revenue from mobile wagering flows into gross gaming revenue and therefore into the same percentage-fee framework used for retail activity. On taxation rates, the board said Nevada’s licensing model and long history of open licensing help explain lower effective rates than some states with more restricted licensing regimes.

On new product areas, Hendrick said pure social gaming (where no bet is taken) is not regulated by the Gaming Control Board, but platforms that accept wagers fall under board jurisdiction. He said the board is actively monitoring social platforms and companies claiming to offer wagering outside the licensing regime.

Senators also asked about the board’s excluded-persons list (the so‑called Nevada "black book"). Hendrick said that list historically targets the most severe threats and that other problem actors (serial trespassers, petty criminals) are handled through enforcement coordination with local police; adding hundreds of names to the excluded-persons list can be difficult to enforce.

The board closed by offering to provide further data and to answer follow-up questions; no formal committee actions or votes occurred during the presentation.

Less critical details: senators raised longer-term concerns about tourism demand, consumer behavior and how gaming revenue trends affect the state budget; Lawton said forecasts are conservative and licensees report no imminent structural weakness. The board also described certain fees and allocations in detail (for example, a $250-per-slot annual tax and the common quarterly $20 machine fee for non‑restricted licensees).