STUTZ: As visitation declines, Reno casinos borrow from Vegas and focus on non-gaming attractions.

Lenore Davis shouldn’t be informed that Reno isn’t a gaming town.

Despite living close to California tribal lands, the San Francisco Bay Area resident still favours the older casinos in Northern Nevada.

Regarding the $12 billion Indian casino business in her native state, Davis remarked, “To be honest, I wish they had never happened.”

The primary reason for Reno’s overall gaming income drop, which has decreased by nearly 12 percent since 2000 and resulted in the closure of older casinos like the Sundowner and Golden Phoenix, has been identified as tribal casino competition.

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This year, Reno gaming operators were alerted to a fresh wave of tribal casino expansion in Northern California. Even while tourism is still below pre-pandemic traffic, Reno gaming revenue is up more than 4% from the previous year and visitor numbers are up about 2% through the first eight months of 2025.

Having visited Reno since the mid-1990s, Davis stayed at Fitzgerald’s until the resort shuttered in 2008; in 2014, it changed its name to the Whitney Peak Hotel, which does not provide gaming.

While playing a dragon-themed slot machine on the main floor of the ancient CalNeva Casino on a Friday morning in September, Davis remarked, “We still come to Reno twice a year, staying Thursday through Sunday.”

However, devoted patrons like Davis are becoming less common, which poses a challenge to a Reno industry that depends far more on gaming than the Strip for its income mix. The Las Vegas playbook is providing inspiration to buck the trend.

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