In the United States and a prominent credit ratings agency has reportedly predicted that the nation’s leisure business sector is likely to experience a comparable decline in revenues of up to 60% this year owing to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report from CDC Gaming Reports, the forecast from Fitch Ratings was contained within a special examination into the effects of the ailment on the nation’s economy with the percentage decline being the highest among 87 different business segments investigated.

Shocking slide:

It was further detailed that the inquiry from Fitch Ratings analysts Colin Mansfield and Alex Bumazhny moreover forecast that the leisure business sector in the United States, which encompasses the tourism, restaurant, lodging and gaming industries, could see its aggregated revenues for the entirety of 2020 drop by as much as $5 trillion owing to a slow economic recovery following a ‘traumatic’ first half.

Slow recovery:

The source reported that almost 1,000 casinos spread across 43 states were forced to temporarily close their doors in March as the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States and racked up a still-rising death toll that is north of 114,000. However, CDC Gaming Reports explained that some 569 venues in more than a dozen jurisdictions have since re-opened while the bellwether market of Las Vegas began reviving operations last week under stringent cleaning, health and social distancing protocols.

Important indicator:

Mansfield reportedly calculated that the casino market in Las Vegas could see its annual aggregated revenues for 2020 crash by as much as 50% year-on-year with regional markets suffering through an around 20% decline.

Reportedly read a statement from Mansfield…

“We’ve been pounding a negative downbeat view of the recovery. The air capacity issue (for flights coming into Las Vegas) is the x-factor. People may want to come but do they want to get on a flight with all the uncertainty? When you first hear a 20% decline in the regional markets, you might think ‘that’s not so bad’. Then you realize that none of the regional markets had that large of a decline during the recession. The short answer is that the drive-in markets are not as painful as Las Vegas.”

Possible positives:

On the bright side and Mansfield reportedly predicted that much of the nation’s casino industry will have re-opened by the beginning of July while Bumazhny calculated that operators are likely to see increased comparable second-half aggregated revenues from sportsbetting regardless of whether fans are allowed to attend such contests.