Cashing in
In 2019, a state study forecast that if the General Assembly allowed five casinos to operate in five economically disadvantaged Virginia cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond — that one-third of the revenue generated would stem from out-of-state visitors. In other words, if you build it, casino backers sang out to the commonwealth’s […]
Data mining
Elena Schlossberg has spent the past three-and-a-half years fighting against what some say is soon to become the world’s largest data center complex. The Haymarket resident estimates she’s participated in at least 100 Zoom calls, town halls and Prince William County meetings to protest the project, while wearing a series of T-shirts voicing her opposition […]
Data centers added $54.2B to Va. GDP over five years
The data center industry contributed $54.2 billion to Virginia‘s gross domestic product from 2017 to 2021, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study released Tuesday. That calculation includes indirect impacts from other businesses as part of the data center industry supply chain and induced impacts resulting from household spending of income earned from the industry or its […]
Va. casinos report $35.4M in April revenue
Gaming revenues from Virginia’s two casinos open in April totaled $35.4 million last month, according to data released Monday from the Virginia Lottery. Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which received its casino license in November 2022 and opened Jan. 23, reported $21.3 million in adjusted gross revenue (wagers minus winnings) in April. Of that, $13.8 million came […]
Virginians bet almost $512M on sports in March
Virginians won $456 million but bet $511.6 million on sports in March, a 9% increase in betting expenditures over March 2022, according to data released Monday by the Virginia Lottery. About $507 million of sports betting revenue came from mobile operators, with the remaining almost $4.59 million coming from casino retail activity out of the […]
Virginians bet $513M on sports in January
Virginians bet more than $513 million on sports in January, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Lottery. Almost $511 million of that revenue came from mobile operators, with the remaining roughly $2 million resulting from casino retail activity in Bristol and Portsmouth, where the state’s first permanent casino opened Jan. 23. Virginia sports […]
Prince William targets data center growth
Move over Loudoun County. Neighboring Prince William County could eventually wear the data center crown. Loudoun currently houses the world’s largest concentration of data centers, which cover more than 25 million square feet of county land. About 27 miles away, however, Prince William is projecting about 33 million square feet of data centers will be […]
Virginians bet $402M on sports in February
Virginians bet almost $402 million in February, according to data released April 1 by the Virginia Lottery. Virginia sports bettors won more than $374 million in February. Since the state legalized sports betting in mid-January 2021, Virginia has recorded $4.1 billion in wagers. February’s gross revenue was a decrease of more than $83.6 million from […]
Report: Va. data center projects totaled $6.8B in 2021
Data centers are a primary driver of economic growth in Virginia, comprising $6.8 billion or 62% of all major economic investments announced last year by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, according to a new report released Thursday by the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). While the total for 2021 represents a decrease from 2020, when […]
Supersize means
Watch your nest egg, particularly if it is extra-large. As Congress scrambles to hike taxes on the wealthy and fund trillions of dollars in social spending, legislators see a potential goldmine in so-called mega individual retirement accounts. Mega IRAs, defined as individual retirement accounts containing at least $5 million, are being touted as a hot […]
Virginia finishes FY21 with record $2.6B surplus
Virginia reached the end of fiscal year 2021 with a $2.6 billion surplus, the largest in the commonwealth’s history, according to a statement released by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday. Total revenue collections grew 14.5% over fiscal year 2020, ahead of 2.7% growth projections. State collections reached $8.6 billion in the final quarter of […]
State sees historic 66.2% General Fund revenue increase in May
The state’s General Fund revenue rose 66.2% in May 2021 compared with May 2020, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday, the largest increase in more than 50 years. He also announced the appointment of the state’s new secretary and deputy secretary of finance. May is usually a big month for revenue collections due to the state’s […]