With three casinos in Virginia operational, the casino marketplace in the commonwealth is growing at a steady pace.
Both Caesars Danville Casino and Rivers Casino Portsmouth eclipsed $20 million in revenue for the first time in July. The cherry on top was HR Bristol, which also saw a jump in revenue compared to June.
In total, the three casinos generated over $57 million in adjusted gross revenue. That is the record for casino gambling AGR in a single month in Virginia and $5.1 million more than in June.
Caesars Virginia continues to gain ground on Rivers Casino Portsmouth
There are currently three Virginia casinos doing business right now. Virginia online casinos are prohibited, though sweepstakes casinos are available online that reward prizes.
Only Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which opened Jan. 23, is in its permanent facility. HR Bristol opened its temporary casino in July 2022 at what used to be the Bristol Mall. The most recent casino to open is the temporary Caesars Danville Casino, which began operating on May 15.
With Richmond and Norfolk working to add casinos, the appetite for casino gambling in Virginia is growing by the day. Plans for a Norfolk casino are in the works, while a Richmond casino referendum will be voted on this coming Election Day.
Despite being Virginia’s newest casino, Caesars is slowly chipping away at Rivers’ title as most popular casino option in the commonwealth. Rivers eclipsed Caesars by just under $950,000 in total AGR in July despite having around twice as many slot machines and two-thirds more table games. It was just a 4.2% difference in AGR.
All three casinos enjoyed solid numbers in July:
- Rivers Casino Portsmouth: $22.3 million
- Caesars Virginia: $21.4 million
- HR Bristol: $13.5 million
Rivers racked up just under $14.3 million in AGR from its 1,422 slot machines. When added to the $8 million from 81 table games, Rivers revenue in July was more than $1.8 million higher than in June.
Caesars totaled nearly $15.9 million in AGR from its 767 slot machines and another $5.5 million from its 25 table games. The $21.4 million in total AGR for July was nearly $2.5 million better than in June, an increase of 11.5%.
HR Bristol came in last, accumulating $11 million in slot machine AGR from its 908 machines and another $2.5 million from 29 table games. HR Bristol had a jump of more than $800,000 in total AGR in July compared to June.
Virginia collects over $10M in tax dollars from casino gambling in July
The state of Virginia is realizing that more regulated casino gambling means more tax dollars for the state.
In April, when Virginia still only had two casinos, just over $6.3 million in tax dollars were contributed to the state. In July – with Caesars fully operational and 10 weeks under its belt – over $10.3 million was given to the state as taxes, a 39% increase.
The tax dollars in July were around $900,000 more than in June.
Here are how the three casinos stacked up in terms of tax dollars contributed to the state:
- Rivers Casino Portsmouth: $4 million
- Caesars Virginia: $3.8 million
- HR Bristol: $2.4 million
The tax money will be distributed among four different programs. The host city gets 6% of the AGR, which is $3.4 million. Another 0.8% of the total tax – $82,506 in July – goes to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund. Another 0.2% of the total tax goes to the Family and Children’s Trust Fund, which was $20,626 in July. The remaining tax dollars go toward the Gaming Proceeds Fund, which came out to over $6.7 million in July.
