February Tax Revenue From Virginia Casinos Tops $10 Million

Written By Phil West on March 15, 2024
Image of floating $100 bills for story on February 2024 revenue from Virginia casinos

In another near-record-setting month revenue for casinos in Virginia, tax revenue for February 2024 topped $10 million on the more than $57.3 million that the state’s three casinos brought in.

The total follows December’s record haul of $58.5 million and January’s respectable $52.9 million in revenue.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth took top spot with $25.3 million in revenue

Rivers Casino Portsmouth led the way in February revenue as it did the month before, per data released by the Virginia Lottery. From its permanent site, it brought in nearly $25.3 million in adjusted gaming revenue, with more than $18.2 from 1,468 slots and another $7 million-plus from 81 table games.

Caesars Danville Casino, operating in a temporary facility before the permanent casino opens later this year, totaled more than $18.7 million in revenue, getting close to $14 million from 808 slot machines and another $4.7 million from 33 table games.

Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock, another temporary casino set to move to permanent digs before 2024 ends, brought in more than $13.3 million in February, split between close to $11.7 million from 911 slots and close to $1.7 million from its 29 table games.

Revenue for host cities, at the 6% rate per Virginia law, totaled a little more than $800,000 for Bristol, a little more than $1.1 million for Danville, and a little more than $1.5 million for Portsmouth.

Will Petersburg eventually join these revenue reports?

Petersburg could soon find itself among the beneficiaries of casino revenues; the city’s residents will get a chance to vote on bringing a casino in the upcoming November election should a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly next week become law.

The bill still requires action from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who could sign it into law, let it pass without his signature, or take action against it.

But the city’s moving forward with plans to get the casino built, with an RFP now open for casino proposals. Bids for the project must include a casino, destination resort, retail shopping, dinner and drink options, an event center, and a hotel with a minimum of 500 rooms, with a preference for two 4-star hotels — plans that would rival what’s being constructed in Bristol and Danville.

Two more cities in Virginia are in varying states of limbo for their casino aspirations. While Norfolk voters approved a casino referendum back in 2020, developers of the proposed HeadWaters Resort and Casino and city officials are at loggerheads over the plan, keeping construction from commencing. And though there was legislative action to bring a casino to the D.C. metro area — namely, in Tysons — that’s been tabled until next year, with some parties in Fairfax County debating the merits of bringing a casino to a location along the Silver Line connecting parts of Virginia and Maryland through the nation’s capital.

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Phil West

Phil West is a longtime journalist based in Austin, Texas, whose bylines have appeared in The Daily Dot, Nautilus, Pro Soccer USA, Howler, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, and Austin Chronicle. He has also written two books about soccer.

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