Virginia casinos report $84.7M in July revenue

July gaming revenues from Virginia’s three casinos totaled $84.7 million, up $6.2 million from June according to a Friday report from the Virginia Lottery.

The state’s newest permanent casino, Danville’s Caesars Virginia resort, led the field with $35.06 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings). About $24.56 million came from its 1,474 slots and roughly $10.50 million from 100 table games.

In Southwest Virginia, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol reported about $22.9 million in adjusted gaming revenues, of which about $18.64 million came from its 1,400 slots and about $4.26 million came from its 73 table games.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth generated about $18.88 million in July from its 1,422 slots and about $7.89 million from its 84 table games, for total adjusted gaming revenues of about $26.77 million.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For the month of July, taxes from casino revenues totaled about $16.64 million.

Under Virginia law, 6% of a casino operator’s adjusted gaming revenue 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 July, Portsmouth received 6% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth’s AGR, getting nearly $1.61 million. Danville received 7% of the Caesars Virginia casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, amounting to roughly $2.38 million. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — more than $1.37 million 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 $133,151 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 $33,288 in July.

Two more casinos are on the horizon in Virginia.

Construction began on the long-awaited $750 million Norfolk casino by development partners Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in February. A temporary casino, dubbed The Interim Gaming Hall, is expected to open in November. Developers named Ron Bailey as vice president and general manager for the forthcoming casino earlier this month.

In November 2024, more than 80% of Petersburg voters said yes to the city’s casino referendum. Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and Virginia Beach developer Bruce Smith Enterprise broke ground on the $1.4 billion casino in March.

In May, Rivers Casino and Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming announced they are planning to break ground on a $65 million hotel in Portsmouth this summer, more than two years after the casino first opened.