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Hard Rock Bristol goes all-in for grand opening

The bright lights of Bristol shine considerably brighter following the opening of Virginia’s second full-fledged casino.

The Nov. 14 grand opening of the $515 million-plus Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Virginia’s first hotel/casino combo, was grand indeed. Symphonies of sounds, from music to slot machines, indicated the site’s time for business had arrived.

“This brand is now 54 years old, [with] 60,000 employees in 74 countries,” says Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen. “I hope we have collectively created something that everyone is proud of.”

Located near downtown Bristol, the casino resort’s dominant features include a 45-foot-tall guitar at the entrance to the 303-room (including 56 suites) concave-shaped hotel. The 620,000-square-foot facility opened with the Hard Rock tradition of The Who-like smashing of guitars inside Hard Rock Live Bristol, an indoor flexible capacity venue that can seat up to 2,000 people.

There’s a spa in the hotel, nearly 1,500 slot machines in the casino, 38,000 original miles on Faith Hill’s vintage Rudolph red Corvette on the casino floor, 50 table games, and countless grins on the faces of those who made the place happen.

“It was a moonshot,” says Jim McGlothlin, chairman of Bristol-based United Co. The Bristol Hard Rock was developed through a joint venture between Hard Rock, McGlothlin and Par Ventures President Clyde Stacy. “With Hard Rock, we went to work in Bristol. We’re changing a lot of lives here.”

The new resort casino replaces the temporary Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock, which opened in July 2022 as Virginia’s first operating casino. Since then, a permanent facility in Portsmouth and a temporary casino in Danville have opened. Located inside the former Bristol Mall, the 30,000-square-foot temporary casino featured 900 slot machines, 29 table games and a sportsbook. In its first year of operation, the temporary Bristol casino’s net gaming revenues totaled $157 million.

Today, Hard Rock Bristol maintains about 1,400 permanent jobs.

The development team previously pushed back the opening of the permanent casino at 500 Gate City Highway, which had been expected in July, in favor of opening the full casino resort, the nation’s eighth Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Adults grinned like children at a theme park on opening day. Their enthusiasm was music to the ears of McGlothlin and his Hard Rock brethren.

“It’s Bristol, baby!” McGlothlin says. “The casino is our winning lottery number.” 

Permanent Hard Rock Bristol casino opens

The bright lights of Bristol shine considerably brighter now following the opening of Virginia’s second full-fledged casino.

Thursday heralded the grand opening of the $515 million-plus Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Virginia’s first hotel/casino combo. Symphonies of sounds, from music to slot machines, indicated the site’s time for business had arrived.

“This brand is now 54 years old, [with] 60,000 employees in 74 countries,” said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International. “I hope we have collectively created something that everyone is proud of.”

Located near downtown Bristol, the casino resort’s dominant features include a 45-foot-tall guitar at the entrance to the 303-room (including 56 suites) concave-shaped hotel. The 620,000-square-foot facility opened with the Hard Rock tradition of The Who-like smashing of guitars inside Hard Rock Live Bristol, an indoor flexible capacity venue that can seat up to 2,000 people.

There’s a spa in the hotel, nearly 1,500 slot machines in the casino, 38,000 original miles on Faith Hill’s vintage Rudolph red Corvette on the casino floor, and countless grins on the faces of those who made the place happen.

“It was a moonshot,” said Jim McGlothlin, chairman of Bristol-based United Co. A joint venture between Hard Rock, McGlothlin and Par Ventures President Clyde Stacy developed Bristol’s Hard Rock.

“With Hard Rock, we went to work in Bristol,” McGlothlin added. “We’re changing a lot of lives here.”

The new resort casino replaces the temporary Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock, which opened in July 2022 as Virginia’s first operating casino. Since then, a permanent facility in Portsmouth and a temporary casino in Danville have opened. Located inside the former Bristol Mall, the 30,000-square-foot temporary casino featured 900 slot machines, 29 table games and a sportsbook.

Today, Hard Rock Bristol maintains about 1,400 permanent jobs, nearly 1,500 slots and 50 table games.

“Today is the day we go from operating a casino to operating a Hard Rock,” said Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol President Allie Evangelista.

The development team previously pushed back the opening of the permanent casino at 500 Gate City Highway, which had been expected in July, in favor of opening the full casino resort, the nation’s eighth Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

TN Ward and BurWil Construction are the contractors for the Bristol Hard Rock project. Some construction work remains to be done, which will increase the team’s capital investment, Evangelista said Tuesday, adding, “Right now, I think it’s at $515 million, but we’re not done.”

In its first year of operation, the temporary Bristol casino’s net gaming revenues totaled $157 million, while the Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which opened in January 2023, made almost $250 million in gaming revenue during its first year. The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville opened May 2023; in its first six months, the Danville casino racked up about $145 million in gaming revenue.

In 2023, Virginia casinos generated $554.87 million in adjusted gaming revenues, based on monthly reports from Virginia Lottery. The Bristol casino represented $160.49 million of the annual total.

Virginia’s three casinos reported a total of $56.56 million in gaming revenues for September. Of that, about $14.09 million came from the temporary Bristol casino.

Thus far, the Bristol Hard Rock has paid more than $68 million in taxes to the state government and has hosted more than 3 million guests.

Marcellus Osceola Jr., chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which acquired Hard Rock in 2007, said the company takes pride in the incorporation of local flavor within their properties. “We pride ourselves in immersing ourselves in a community,” Osceola said. “We love all — we serve all. That’s our motto.”

Love, in the form of music, abounds inside Bristol’s Hard Rock. Myriad examples of Bristol, Virginia, and Tennessee music history are displayed throughout the site.

“That’s very important to us,” Evangelista said. “We want to connect with Bristol because it is the Birthplace of Country Music.”

A hallway connects the casino and dining area. One side of the hall depicts musicians from Virginia. The other, Tennessee. There’s a framed autograph from Winchester’s Patsy Cline and an autographed album from Castlewood’s 49 Winchester.

Labyrinths of music memorabilia weave like straw through the Hard Rock Café and casino to form basketfuls of iconic imagery. Examine Glen Campbell’s guitar where it resides near Hard Rock Live. Marvel at Bob Dylan’s harmonica. Lean in and read the details on Johnny Cash’s passport.

“I loved the Ozzy Osbourne display,” said Ali Randolph, a country musician from Burnsville, North Carolina. “Old school metal; you can’t beat it.”

Randolph will perform at the Hard Rock Café Bristol on Nov. 27. There are four stages for live music — rock and otherwise — within the complex.

“Hard Rock is not just about rock music,” Evangelista said. “We have about $1 million of music memorabilia on site.”

Then again, Hard Rock earned its name because it does rock — at least on occasion. Grand opening night features country music star Blake Shelton at Hard Rock Live Bristol. Rock veterans Soul Asylum, purveyors of such 1990s generational hits as “Runaway Train,” appear in the 23,000-square-foot venue on Saturday.

“We’ll be there for the grand opening, the christening of the Hard Rock in Bristol,” Dave Pirner, lead singer of Soul Asylum, said by phone on Monday from an airport in Minneapolis.

Hard Rock features more than gaming and music. Seven restaurants, from the fine dining of Council Oak Steaks & Seafood to the finger food of Street Tacos, occupy various spaces on the outer edges of the casino.

An Appalachian merry-go-round, adults grinned like children in a cotton candy glow on opening day. That was music to perk the ears of McGlothlin and his Hard Rock brethren.

“It’s Bristol, baby!” McGlothlin said. “The casino is our winning lottery number.”

Associate Editor Katherine Schulte contributed to this article.

Caesars Virginia casino sets opening date

The Caesars Virginia resort casino in Danville will open Dec. 12, Nevada’s Caesars Entertainment announced Thursday.

A $750 million, 587,000-square-foot casino and resort hotel in Danville’s Schoolfield neighborhood, the permanent casino will replace the temporary Caesars casino that opened nearby in May 2023. According to Thursday’s announcement, the new casino — which will be the state’s third permanent casino and the most expensive yet — will have more than 90,000 square feet of gaming space with 1,500 slot machines, 79 live-action table games, 48 electronic table games, a poker room and sportsbook. The resort will have a 320-room hotel, 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a 2,500-seat entertainment venue, a full-service spa and pool, and an array of restaurants and bars.

Announced earlier was the inclusion of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Ramsay’s Kitchen. Local developer Rick Barker and local restaurateur Steve Parry will be behind the 500 Block Food Hall with other dining options.

“Our property started out with just over 400 team members when the temporary facility opened last year, and we are on track to hire more than 1,200 by the time we open our doors in December,” Chris Albrecht, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Virginia, said in a statement. “Through numerous hiring events in the region, training at facilities in Danville and overall support from local and state leaders as well as the business community, we are prepared to continue delivering the family style service that Caesars is known for to our guests in the new, beautiful destination resort.”

As of May 2023, the casino has paid more than $66 million in gaming taxes to the City of Danville and the state. Caesars Entertainment has partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina and EBCI Holdings in the Danville casino’s ownership.

The cost of the casino, which was approved by Danville voters in 2020 following the state’s legalization of casino gaming, has grown from $400 million to $650 million and finally $750 million. In May, Danville City Council amended the agreement to reflect the higher cost.

Caesars said in Thursday’s announcement that it will release more details about the Dec. 12 grand opening ceremony as the date gets closer.

On Nov. 14, the $515 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is set to host its grand opening with country music star Blake Shelton performing, and the Norfolk Casino’s groundbreaking took place in October. Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened its doors in January 2023, becoming the state’s first permanent casino. On Tuesday, Petersburg voters passed a casino referendum with more than 80% supporting the Cordish Cos. $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel project, which will become the state’s fifth casino — and the final one, at least under current state law.

Petersburg casino passes with 81% of unofficial vote

Updated Nov. 6

More than 80% of Petersburg voters said yes to the city’s casino referendum, according to unofficial Election Day results from the Virginia Department of Elections, as of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The vote gives a green light to Cordish Cos.’ $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel, set to be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site off Interstate 95 in Petersburg. It is the fifth casino voters have approved in Virginia, where casino gaming facilities were legalized by the General Assembly in 2020 with the requirement that local voters pass a referendum in support of a casino.

According to the Virginia Board of Elections’ unofficial tally Tuesday night, 10,265 voters selected “yes,” compared to 2,325 people voting no.

“We are deeply gratified by the community’s affirmation of this project and very hopeful about the meaningful impact it will have on the city’s future,” Virginia Beach developer Bruce Smith, co-developer of the project, said in a statement Tuesday. “The casino will not only create good-paying jobs for our residents but will also attract visitors statewide and beyond, stimulating local businesses and in turn producing an overall ripple effect of economic growth. Now that the voters have spoken, we look forward to working with the City of Petersburg and the Virginia Lottery to secure all of the necessary permitting, licensing and regulatory approvals for this project to move forward.”

Developers said earlier this year that the Petersburg casino resort would be built in phases. The first phase would include a 200,000-square-foot casino, featuring 1,000 slot machines and 23 table games. The full 400,000-square-foot project, to be completed two years after approvals, would include a 200-room hotel, 1,600 slot machines, 46 live-action table games, a 3,000-seat entertainment venue and eight food and entertainment establishments, three of which would be reserved for Petersburg businesses. Smith said he anticipated 1,500 jobs with average salaries of $70,000, and an estimated $240 million in local tax revenue in the first 10 years. In a news release Tuesday, the developers say they expect the project to create 6,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.

Virginia has three operating casinos: Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the state’s first permanent casino; the Caesars Virginia temporary casino in Danville; and the temporary Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock, which opened in Bristol in July 2022. The permanent $515 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is set to stage its grand opening Nov. 14, and according to Caesars Virginia officials, the permanent, $750 million Danville casino is expected to open in December. Meanwhile, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming broke ground in October for the long-delayed Norfolk casino.

All four of those casino projects were passed via local referendum in 2020, but Richmond voters rejected the Urban One casino project in 2021 and 2023 votes. Earlier this year, Virginia General Assembly lawmakers passed legislation that gave Petersburg a chance to host a casino, pending voters’ approval of a referendum on the November ballot, and barred Richmond from a third try. The state’s casino laws cap the number of casinos to one per city in five designated cities: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and now Petersburg, which replaced Richmond.

Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., which was among competing casino developers in Richmond, and Smith, a NFL Hall of Fame member and owner of Bruce Smith Enterprise, teamed up to vie for the opportunity to develop a casino in Petersburg. Five development groups put in bids, and in April, a controversy erupted when Petersburg city councilors accused Petersburg-based state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, who sponsored legislation to hold a casino referendum vote in Petersburg, of pressuring city officials to choose Bally’s Corp. as developer.

Aird disputed the allegation, and Petersburg City Council ultimately chose Cordish as the casino’s developer. In 2022, the Petersburg council voted to approve Cordish as a potential casino developer, as Petersburg officials began trying to win state approval to hold a casino referendum there following the casino’s first defeat in Richmond.

“The approval of the destination resort and casino in Petersburg marks a significant milestone for our city,” Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham said. “Voter approval follows a three-year journey on this transformative project that will bring positive change to Petersburg for generations. This destination resort, casino, retail and residential development will be the largest economic and tourism project in Petersburg’s history. City Council and administration look forward to working with the Cordish Cos. and Bruce Smith Enterprise to positively impact our community and its prosperity.”

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the pro-casino Vote Yes Petersburg committee funded by a Cordish limited liability company spent more than $1 million this year on its campaign to pass the referendum, with the majority of money going toward campaign marketing materials and advertising. Unlike in Richmond, there appeared to be no coordinated opposition campaign against the Petersburg casino.

Va. casinos report $56.56M in September revenue

Gaming revenues for Virginia’s three casinos totaled $56.56 million in September, according to data the Virginia Lottery released Tuesday.

Last month, the Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock reported about $14.09 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings), of which about $11.68 million came from its 905 slots and about $2.4 million from its 29 table games. The Virginia Lottery Board approved HR Bristol’s casino license in April 2022, and the Bristol casino’s temporary facility opened in July 2022, making it the first operating casino in Virginia. The permanent casino resort’s opening is scheduled for Nov. 14.

After the lottery board approved its license in November 2022, Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened as Virginia’s first permanent casino in January 2023. In September, the casino generated more than $17.85 million from its 1,419 slots and over $6.35 million from its 85 table games, for a total AGR of $24.2 million.

The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which received its casino license in April 2023 and opened in May 2023, reported $18.25 million in AGR last month. Approximately $13.49 million of that came from its 826 slots, and more than $4.76 million came from its 36 table games. The $750 million permanent facility is set to open late this year.

September’s casino gaming revenues were a 10% decrease from the $63.1 million reported for August.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For the month of September, taxes from casino AGRs totaled about $11.39 million.

Under Virginia law, 6% of a casino operator’s AGR goes to its host locality until the operator passes $200 million in AGR for the year, at which point the host locality’s tax rate rises to 7%. If an operator passes $400 million in AGR in the calendar year, that rises to 8%.

For September, Portsmouth received 7% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth’s AGR, getting more than $1.69 million. Danville received 6% of the Caesars Virginia casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, amounting to roughly $1.09 million. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — $845,470 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 $91,136 last month. The Family and Children’s Trust Fund, which funds family violence prevention and treatment programs, receives 0.2% of the monthly total, which was approximately $22,784 in September.

Also on Tuesday, the team behind the delayed Norfolk casino — which has had a change in ownership and in name — announced it would hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the casino on Oct. 30. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe remains a partner, but Boyd Gaming replaced Tennessee investor Jon Yarbrough. The entities have scrapped the name HeadWaters Resort & Casino and referred to it as the Norfolk Casino Resort in Tuesday’s announcement.

In Central Virginia, Petersburg will hold a casino referendum on this fall’s ballots, asking voters to approve the proposed $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia project.

Gordon Ramsay to open restaurant at Caesars Virginia

Cantankerous celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay plans to open a restaurant called Ramsay’s Kitchen at the $750 million Caesars Virginia casino in Danville by the end of 2024, the casino resort announced Tuesday. 

“Caesars Virginia sets the standard for approachable luxury, and I’m so proud to open my first [Virginia] restaurant here inside this beautiful resort,” Ramsay stated in a news release. “My longstanding partnership with Caesars has proven to be a fan favorite time and time again. I’m beyond excited to continue that here in the commonwealth of Virginia by sharing my take on global cuisine.”  

Born in Scotland, Ramsay grew up in England. His restaurants hold eight Michelin stars, a prestigious ranking given to restaurants with outstanding cooking. Ramsay is the star of several TV shows, including “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef.”

In a news release, Caesars Virginia described the restaurant’s menu as “elegant yet approachable.”  Dishes will include beef Wellington, vanilla mascarpone cheesecake and Virginia oysters. Ramsay’s Kitchen will be inspired by the chef’s travels, according to a news release, “taking guests on a global culinary journey infused with flavors close to home.”  

“Ramsay’s Kitchen brings an elevated dining option not just to our resort, but it brings a world-class option that the region hasn’t seen,” Chris Albrecht, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Virginia, stated.

Ramsay’s Kitchen will be located adjacent to registration at the resort, steps off the casino floor, and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant will offer more than 250 seating options, including a private dining room and an outdoor patio “with iconic views of Danville’s historic Three Sisters Smokestacks,” the news release states.   

In 2019, Lion Capital, a United Kingdom investment firm, reportedly agreed to fund $100 million over five years for 50% of Gordon Ramsay North America, Ramsay’s U.S. and Canadian restaurant business. Currently, Ramsay North America boasts 28 restaurants, several of which are in partnership with Caesars Entertainment, a hotel and casino entertainment company based in Nevada. Gordon Ramsay Restaurants worldwide portfolio includes an additional 58 international locations. 

The temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which received its casino license in April 2023 and opened in May 2023, reported $18.25 million in adjusted gaming revenues for September. All Virginia casinos reported cumulative revenues of $56.56 million for the month.

Set to open in late 2024 and owned by Caesars Entertainment and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the permanent Caesars Virginia resort casino will offer a 320-room hotel and more than 90,000 square feet of gaming space, including 1,500 slots, 79 live-action table games, 24 electronic table games, a World Series of Poker room and Caesars Sportsbook. Described as “Roman luxury meets Southern charm,” the Danville resort will also boast a full-service spa, pool, dining, bars and lounges, as well as 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. 

 

Norfolk casino groundbreaking set for Oct. 30

Groundbreaking for Norfolk’s forthcoming casino is set to take place Oct. 30, according to a news release Tuesday.

The announcement of the event, which is slated to feature remarks by the CEO of Boyd Gaming, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s chief and Norfolk’s mayor, comes after the Norfolk City Council approved the project last month after multiple delays.

The tribe announced in September that it has partnered with Las Vegas casino giant Boyd Gaming on the project, which will include a temporary casino and a permanent structure built near Harbor Park, with construction starting within a few weeks of each other early next year. Boyd replaces former partner Jon Yarbrough, who formed a limited liability company, Golden Eagle Consulting II, with the tribe’s gaming authority in 2020. Yarbrough is no longer affiliated with the casino, having sold his interest in the project to Boyd Gaming, which is now majority owner of Golden Eagle Consulting II.

The temporary casino is expected to meet the state’s deadline of November 2025, by which time a casino must be built and licensed by the Virginia Lottery under state law. According to paperwork filed with the city, construction of the “transitional casino” would begin in late February 2025 and be complete by mid-October 2025, with an opening date targeted for Nov. 5, 2025. The permanent casino’s construction would start in mid-January 2025 and be complete in August 2027, with its opening taking place the following month.

Cost estimates for both the temporary and permanent casinos have not yet been announced, and in September, Uri Clinton, Boyd Gaming’s general counsel and corporate secretary, said they’re “still under review.” Under state law, the permanent casino resort must cost at least $300 million.

According to a pitchbook for the project, the permanent casino resort will include a 200-room hotel, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, a casino with 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, eight restaurants and bars, and 4,000 square feet of spa and gym space. The HeadWaters Resort & Casino name will no longer be used, and Boyd is working on a new name and brand for the casino.

Virginia’s casinos reported $56.56 million in September revenue, according to the Virginia Lottery.

Norfolk’s casino referendum was approved by local voters in 2020, along with three other casinos in Virginia — all of which are now up and running in Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol. The latter two cities opened temporary casinos but are set to open their permanent resorts this year. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is scheduled to host its grand opening ceremony Nov. 14, and Danville’s Caesars Virginia casino resort, a $750 million project, is anticipated to open by the end of this year.

Richmond voters defeated a casino referendum twice in 2021 and 2023, and in November, Petersburg voters will weigh in on a referendum that would allow the city to build a casino with developer The Cordish Cos. and Bruce Smith Enterprise, a Virginia Beach-based development firm led by Norfolk native and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.

Sports betting brings in tax money, gambling helpline calls

RICHMOND, Va. — Football season has kicked off and stretches from September to February. The sport is forecasted to bring in $35 billion in legal bets this season, according to the American Gaming Association.

In Virginia it is one of the top types of sports wagers made, according to Virginia Lottery gaming updates. Sports betting started in Virginia in 2021. It generated almost $69 million in taxes in fiscal year 2023, according to a legislative report.

That revenue is stacking coffers in U.S. states for totals in the billions.

More people are sports betting now, and people in their early 20s are the fastest-growing group of gamblers, according to a 2023 report from the American Psychological Association, or APA. Nearly two-thirds of adolescents, ages 12 to 18, report having an experience with gambling.

Experts worry early exposure to gambling could lead to gambling addiction, and could be linked to higher risks of mental distress, according to the APA.

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-New York, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, recently introduced legislation to tackle problem gambling, known as the ‘‘SAFE Bet Act.’’

The bill calls for a nationwide 12-month long survey to better provide data on the scope of “problem gambling and gambling-related harm experienced by individuals using online sports betting.”

Qualified researchers would collect the data, and the study would not be sponsored by the gambling industry.The findings would be made available to the public, according to the bill.

The bill also proposes a national self-exclusion list, where individuals can restrict themselves from placing a sports wager with a sports wagering operator, and also a process for a person to add or remove themselves from the list.

Sports betting does not require a bettor to walk into a casino and there are no set hours of operation. Someone can place a bet from their couch, or on their phone at any time of the day. The ads are also not regulated, so people consume sports betting promotions on social media and TV.

The August numbers recently released by the Virginia Lottery show a 30.6% increase over the previous year. Virginians placed over $416 million in bets in August and won over $376 million.

Jaleel Patterson, a senior at Virginia Tech, places bets a few times a week, and definitely on Sundays because “NFL season is here.”

He has turned a profit, but not enough to be a sustainable income. Sports betting can be entertaining with friends who enjoy the competition, he said.

“If your favorite team is playing their favorite team, you will gamble and say ‘oh, my team is gonna beat your team,’” Patterson said. “Between friends, I feel like that makes it more fun compared to just doing it on your own.”

It is important for a bettor to determine what they want to spend, and even the amount of time they will spend on the apps, he said.

“Only play with what you are willing to lose,” Patterson said.

Brendan Dwyer is the director of research at the Center for Sport Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“[Sports betting] is a potentially fun activity if done responsibly,” Dwyer said.

He expects the amount of money wagered on sports across the U.S. will eventually slow down, but not in the immediate future.

“I don’t think we’ve completely penetrated the market,” Dwyer said. “I think we are still having new sports fans feel comfortable sports betting.”

Males under age 25 are most likely to become problem bettors, including betting money they don’t have or behaving irresponsibly, according to Dwyer.

“I don’t think that’s unique to sports betting,” Dwyer said. “It’s something you see with alcohol consumption, drug use, and anything that involves regulating your behavior. Sports betting is an extra activity that fuels that misbehavior.”

Sports betting isn’t any more emotional than gambling in a casino, Dwyer said. But when a bettor has a specific attachment to a sports team, it can be more emotional.

“If you don’t bet and you watch a football game, you’re going to be emotional about your favorite football team playing,” Dwyer said.”Sports in general is just more emotional.”

Carolyn Hawley is a VCU professor and president of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling, which operates a helpline. She is also a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

The helpline received 967 intakes from January through June 2024, according to its August newsletter. That surpasses the total number of intakes last year, which was 898.

The state helpline has seen a shift in the age of callers, which used to be older individuals who had gambled for years before developing a problem, Hawley said in a previous Capital News Service interview.

Signs of problem gambling can be when it has a certain priority throughout a person’s daily life, according to Hawley.

“Are you spending a lot of time thinking about gambling and planning your next gambling activity?” Hawley said. “Are you spending more time gambling than you would with other activities that you used to enjoy? Do you need more and more to get that same level of excitement?”

Anyone who thinks they have a gambling problem can contact the confidential and toll-free helpline at 1-888-532-3500 or visit the website: https://vcpg.net/.

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.

Petersburg prepares for casino referendum vote

This November, Petersburg voters will decide the fate of a highly anticipated casino development that could transform the city’s struggling economy. If approved, the proposed $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia project will be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site off Interstate 95, offering easy access to East Coast travelers.

“I have worked for over two years to give Petersburg residents this once-in-a-generation opportunity,” says Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham. “We are one of the most fiscally distressed cities in the commonwealth, and this will give the city that revenue shot it has needed for quite some time.”

The proposed project is a joint venture between Baltimore-based real estate developer The Cordish Cos. and Bruce Smith Enterprise, a Virginia Beach-based development firm led by Norfolk native and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.

If approved, the casino’s first phase will span 200,000 square feet, featuring 1,000 slot machines and 23 table games. The full 400,000-square-foot project, to be completed two years after approvals, would include a 200-room hotel, 1,600 slot machines, 46 live-action table games, a 3,000-seat entertainment venue and eight food and entertainment establishments, three of which would be reserved for Petersburg businesses.

“Virginia is home for me, and I take my commitment to improve my communities and create jobs very seriously,” says Smith, noting that the development’s creation of 1,500 jobs with average salaries of $70,000 would significantly raise the city’s median household income, which was approximately $47,000 in 2022. The casino would bring in an estimated $240 million in local tax revenue in the first 10 years.

Nevertheless, the selection process for the development team was controversial. Just before the Virginia General Assembly approved Petersburg as the commonwealth’s fifth approved locality to host a casino, the city manager signed a letter of intent naming Bally’s as the city’s choice
of casino operator, setting off questions about potential political pressure. A week later, city officials abruptly reversed the decision in favor of Cordish, a choice Parham stands by as best for the city.

“Petersburg first” is the slogan of the development team, which has set up a local campaign office and scheduled vendor fairs in anticipation of a favorable vote. “We will work to help smaller contractors partner with larger contractors so they can get the kind of work that’s meaningful,” says Zed Smith, Cordish’s chief operating officer.

Norfolk Council moves delayed casino forward

Updated Sept. 11, 2024

Norfolk will have a temporary casino open by next November and a permanent resort in 2027 if all goes to plan, as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and casino giant Boyd Gaming, its new corporate partner, received a fresh start on the long-delayed project from Norfolk City Council on Tuesday.

City Council members and the mayor voted 7-1 Tuesday to approve a development agreement between the city, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming, which replaces Tennessee investor Jon Yarbrough as the King William County tribe’s corporate partner. In paperwork filed with the city, the partners have scrapped the casino’s old name, HeadWaters Resort & Casino, and provided a timeline to start construction of a temporary casino and a permanent structure within a few weeks of each other in early 2025.

Council member Andria McClellan was the sole no-voter Tuesday. She said that the larger casino proposed in 2020 was now smaller, and that some of her concerns, including public safety costs, had not yet been addressed.

The temporary casino is expected to meet the state’s deadline of November 2025, by which time a casino must be built and licensed by the Virginia Lottery under state law. According to paperwork filed with the city, construction of the “transitional casino” would begin in late February 2025 and be complete by mid-October 2025, with an opening date targeted for Nov. 5, 2025. The permanent casino’s construction would start in mid-January 2025 and be complete in August 2027, with its opening taking place the following month.

The budgets for both the temporary and permanent casinos are “still under review,” Boyd Gaming’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Uri Clinton, said in an interview Tuesday before the vote. However, he noted that the focus is on building the permanent casino, as opposed to the construction of the temporary space. “Just to be very direct, the transitional casino is not a big item relative to the overall project,” Clinton said. “So right now, we’re still going through that, but it is very specific to its purpose [of meeting state lottery requirements]. It’s transitional by nature.”

According to a pitchbook provided to Virginia Business by the company, the permanent casino resort will include a 200-room hotel, 13,000 square feet of meeting space, a casino with 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, eight restaurants and bars, and 4,000 square feet of spa and gym space. The HeadWaters Resort & Casino name is no longer in effect, and Boyd is working now on a new name and brand for the casino.

Under the agreement, Boyd Gaming is now majority owner of Golden Eagle Consulting II, a limited liability company formed by the Pamunkey Indian Tribal Gaming Authority and Yarbrough, which won the city’s approval as operator of the Norfolk casino in 2020. The resort was approved by voters via referendum in November 2020, the first year commercial casinos were allowed to be brought to referendums in Virginia. Originally, the tribe partnered with Yarbrough, a billionaire who founded casino game producer Video Gaming Technologies, which he sold for $1.28 billion in 2014.

Pamunkey Indian Tribe Chief Robert Gray said Tuesday that the end of the tribe’s partnership with Yarbrough was “very amicable. We’re moving in this direction. It’s just a fantastic opportunity.”

The tribe and Yarbrough promised to build the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino on the Elizabeth River, but disputes between the city and the developers over design and proposed two-phase construction delayed the project multiple times — and now developers face a November 2025 state deadline, during which at least a temporary casino must be built and licensed by the Virginia State Lottery for the developers to retain the right to build a casino under the 2020 referendum vote.

Three other casinos approved by voters in Danville, Bristol and Portsmouth in 2020 have already opened, and in November, Petersburg voters will weigh in on their own casino referendum. Richmond voters twice rejected casino referendums, and the state legislature voted to provide Petersburg the opportunity earlier this year.

Clinton said his company has finished other casinos quickly, including a $500 million Sacramento, California, resort completed ahead of schedule and under budget, and an extension of a Louisiana casino that was “a ground-up construction.”

Gray began working toward building a casino in Norfolk even before the state allowed commercial casinos to be built; in 2019, the city approved a land deal that allowed the casino to be built on the waterfront. On Tuesday, he said the tribe spoke with several casino developers earlier in the year before landing on Boyd Gaming, a publicly traded, 49-year-old company that still has Boyd family members in some leadership roles. The tribe and the company began working together about six months ago, Gray said.

“[We’re] very excited, because I believe Boyd is the group that can bring us across the finish line in time and build and create a great opportunity here in the region,” he said. As for the tribe’s members, “they say it’s beneficial to tribal citizens in the way of education, health care, housing and various other needs.”

He said that the tribe decided to partner with Boyd over other companies because they “shared our commitment to the community, shared values, family values, commitment to even the workers,” including hiring local veterans, who are in ample supply in Hampton Roads.

Rendering of Norfolk casino

Based in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming operates 28 casinos in 10 states, including some with tribal partners, but this is its first venture in Virginia. The company reported $3.75 billion in revenue in 2023.

Boyd estimates that the permanent casino’s construction phase will produce $510 million in local economic impact, as well as 2,850 temporary construction jobs and $173 million in salaries and wages. In the operating phase, the company predicts $2.9 billion in economic impact, $583 million in salaries and wages, and 850 permanent jobs. Under the partnership, the tribe retains no less than 20% equity in the casino project, the same as it did in the partnership with Yarbrough.

The permanent project must cost at least $300 million, a requirement under state law.

Tuesday’s City Council vote gives Golden Eagle Consulting — now including Boyd Gaming — an amended and restated option to purchase an additional acre, in addition to 8.35 acres already planned for the casino and parking facilities, and authorizing the city manager to execute the development agreement and enter into site plan agreements and easements.

“I am excited to recognize this significant milestone in our journey to bring a world-class casino and hotel resort to the Harbor Park Entertainment District,” Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander said in a statement. “Boyd Gaming Corp., in partnership with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, is set to deliver a premier destination that will generate millions of dollars in tax revenues, create numerous jobs and revitalize our waterfront. This project will not only enhance our tourism efforts but also enable us to invest in key priorities that will benefit our community for years to come.”

Keith Smith, Boyd Gaming’s CEO and president, added, “We are pleased to take this important step forward in helping the Pamunkey Indian Tribe realize its vision of a best-in-class gaming resort. The greater Norfolk area is one of the largest underserved gaming markets in the mid-Atlantic region, and represents a compelling opportunity to further expand and diversify our company’s nationwide presence. We appreciate the Norfolk City Council’s support and confidence in our development plans, and we look forward to partnering with the city and the tribe as we continue the process of developing a transformational gaming entertainment experience on the Norfolk waterfront.”

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected since publication.