Va. casinos report $51.2M in November revenue

Gaming revenues from Virginia’s three casinos totaled $51.2 million in November, according to Virginia Lottery data released Friday.

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. The Bristol casino reported a little more than $12 million in adjusted gaming revenue (wagers minus winnings) in November, of which about $10 million came from its 908 slots, and $1.9 million from its 29 table games.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth, Virginia’s first permanent casino, opened in January. The lottery board approved its license in November 2022. Rivers Casino Portsmouth generated almost $21.6 million in November gaming revenues, of which about $14.6 million came from its 1,416 slots, and about $6.9 million from its 81 table games.

The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville opened in May, after receiving its casino license in April. Caesars Virginia’s adjusted gaming revenue totaled $17.5 million in November. Of that, about $12.8 million came from its 830 slots, and the remaining almost $4.69 million came from its 33 table games.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For November, total casino state taxes were approximately $10.29 million.

Portsmouth received 7% of adjusted gaming revenues from the Rivers Casino Portsmouth, getting $1.5 million. Danville received 6% of the Caesars Virginia casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, which was about $1 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 received approximately $82,000 from casino taxes in November, while the Family and Children’s Trust Fund received about $20,590. The remaining roughly $6.9 million remains in the state’s Gaming Proceeds Fund.

Currently, one more casino is planned in Virginia — the HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk. In June, developers scrapped plans to build a 45,000-square-foot temporary casino, although the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough said in November that they hope to break ground in 2024 after getting city leaders’ sign-off.

Richmond voters gave a resounding “no” to a casino for the second time, rejecting the proposed $562 million Richmond Grand Resort & Casino in the city’s do-over casino referendum in November.

Petersburg lawmakers seek to hold a casino referendum in the city by November 2025, which would require the General Assembly to allow a casino in a city with a population below 200,000, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

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