Hard Rock Bristol to open permanent facility Nov. 14

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol will open its approximately $515 million permanent facility on Nov. 14, with country music star Blake Shelton making an appearance at the ceremony, its development team announced Wednesday.

The temporary Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock opened July 8, 2022, making it Virginia’s first operating casino. Since then, two other casinos in Danville and Portsmouth have opened.

The development team — a joint venture between Hard Rock, Par Ventures President Clyde Stacy and The United Co. Chairman Jim McGlothlin — previously pushed back the opening of the permanent casino, which had been expected in July, to an unspecified time in “late fall,” in favor of opening the full casino resort.

The casino, located at 500 Gate City Highway, will open at noon on Nov. 14 with a grand opening ceremony that will include a concert by “The Voice” coach Shelton at the Hard Rock Live entertainment venue.

McGlothlin and Stacy said in a joint statement: “The opening of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is such a pivotal milestone for the city of Bristol and our entire Tri-Cities region across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. This project has created new jobs and generated additional tax revenue, serving as an economic engine and bringing hope to our community.”

The permanent, 620,000-square-foot casino resort will have almost 1,500 slots, more than 50 table games, a 303-room hotel, a 2,000-seat indoor entertainment venue and dining venues, including a Hard Rock Cafe, Council Oak Steaks & Seafood and YouYu Asian Dining, as well as a Hard Rock coffee and pastry shop brand, Constant Grind, and Marketplace, an area housing Fish & Chicken Co., Brick’d Italian Kitchen and Street Tacos.

“We are thrilled to open Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol,” Jon Lucas, Hard Rock International’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Hard Rock’s rich history fits perfectly with Bristol’s distinction as the ‘Birthplace of Country Music.’ … With this property, Bristol — and the entire region — have a new major entertainment destination.”

The Bristol Hard Rock currently has 791 employees and expects to hire about 1,400 employees in all for the full resort. Hard Rock doesn’t have a set timeline for its hiring goal but expects to reach the 1,400-employee total “in the months ahead,” according to a spokesperson.

The 30,000-square-foot temporary facility in the former Bristol Mall has about 900 slots, 29 table games and a sportsbook. It also has a restaurant, Mr. Lucky’s, and a sports bar that will close when the permanent casino opens.

In its first year of operation, the temporary casino made $157 million in net gaming revenues. The casino hosted visitors from across the nation during its first six months of operation, Allie Evangelista, president of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, told Virginia Business earlier this year.

Since its opening, the temporary Bristol Casino has had more than 3 million visitors, paid more than $66 million in gaming taxes to the state, donated more than $960,000 to support local nonprofits and paid more than $260 million in jackpots, according to a news release.

TN Ward and BurWil Construction form the construction team for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol.

The extended timeline follows a 2024-26 budget amendment directing the Virginia Lottery to renew, before June 30, temporary casino operators’ authorizations to conduct gaming for an additional six months beyond the previously codified two-year limit, provided certain conditions are met.

The conditions in the amendment are that:

• A portion of the temporary gaming facility will be incorporated as part of the permanent facility;
• the preferred casino operator has met the $300 million minimum capital investment;
• and the Virginia Lottery “determined that the preferred casino gaming operator has made a good faith effort to comply with the approved construction schedule.”