Va. casino revenues total $58.5M in December 2023

Virginia’s three casinos generated $58.5 million in December 2023 gaming revenues, according to data released Friday by the Virginia Lottery.

Virginia’s first casino, the Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock temporary facility, opened July 2022. The Virginia Lottery Board approved HR Bristol’s casino license in April 2022. In December 2023, the Hard Rock Bristol casino generated about $12.2 million from its 911 slots and about $2.7 million from its 29 table games.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth, Virginia’s first permanent casino, opened in January 2023, after the lottery board approved its license in November 2022. Rivers Casino Portsmouth reported a total of approximately $23.85 million in gaming revenues, of which about $16.3 million came from its 1,466 slots, with the remainder coming from its 81 table games.

The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville opened in May 2023, after receiving its casino license in April 2023. The Caesars Virginia casino reported roughly $14.27 million in revenue from its 808 slots and about $5.46 million from its 33 table games.

Last month’s casino gaming revenues were a 14.3% increase from the $51.2 million reported in November 2023.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue (wagers minus winnings). For the month of December 2023, taxes from casino AGRs totaled $11.7 million.

The host city of Portsmouth received 7% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth’s AGR, almost $1.7 million. Danville received 6% of its casino’s AGRs, receiving roughly $1.18 million. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — roughly $725,000 last month — goes to the Regional Improvement Commission, which the General Assembly established to distribute Bristol casino tax funds throughout Southwest Virginia.

The Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund receives 0.8% of total taxes, about $93,800 last month. The Family and Children’s Trust Fund receives 0.2% of the monthly total, roughly $23,000 in December 2023.

One more casino has received voter approval and is currently underway in Virginia: the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk. The developers — a partnership between the King William-based Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough — submitted new plans to the city, aiming to start continuous, rather than phased, construction in spring 2024.

The Norfolk Architectural Review Board is the first body to review plans in the approval process, which ends with the Norfolk City Council. The board was set to review the new plans in its Jan. 8 meeting, but developers continued the review until Jan. 22.

Following Richmond voters’ rejection of a proposed $562 million casino for the second time, Petersburg lawmakers are seeking to hold a casino referendum in the city, which would require the General Assembly to allow a casino in a city with a population below 200,000. State Senate Bill 268, with state Sens. Lashrecse Aird and Louise Lucas as patrons, would amend requirements for a host city to ones favorable for Petersburg, The Progress-Index reported.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the tax rates allocated to host localities and the RIC.