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The first full month of operation for any casino is special and for casinos in Virginia, those months have always produced a new record-high for revenue and taxes from gaming activity. June was no exception as it was the first such month for Caesars Danville.
Caesars Danville helped Virginia’s casino industry surpass $50 million in revenue for a month for the first time. As a result, Virginia is getting closer to reaping $10 million in taxes from its casinos during a single month.
Caesars Danville nears $19 million in revenue in June
June was the strongest month yet for the state’s three casinos, according to the Virginia Lottery. Virginia collected almost $9.4 million in tax revenue off gambling during the month, flirting with $10 million in such a period for the first time.
Caesars opened its temporary casino facility in Danville on May 15, making June its first full month of operation. The facility offers nearly 800 gaming positions, all but 25 of which are slot machines. Thus, the over $18.9 million in revenue for June mostly came from slots. That’s quite typical in terms of casinos in the United States.
With all three casinos reporting, June revenue topped $52.1 million. The other two casinos in Virginia are the Hard Rock in Bristol and Rivers in Portsmouth. The Hard Rock is also a temporary facility and thus has a diminished number of gaming positions.
Due to its operating at full capacity, Rivers led the way among the three casinos with $20.5 million in June revenue. Due to the difference in offerings, though, comparing the three isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s more like apples to cherries.
Looking at the first full months of the three casinos shows that Caesars in Danville could potentially challenge Rivers for its top spot when its permanent facility opens.
Caesars gets off to good start but it’s early
Caesars actually had a better first full month than the Hard Rock did in August 2022. It also did that with significantly fewer gaming positions. The Hard Rock has four more gaming tables and 160 more slot machines than Caesars does.
Speaking to the strength of Caesars’ initial performance, its revenue total also outperformed the Hard Rock’s for June and represented 92.1% of what Rivers did in terms of revenue for the month. However, there’s a catch.
Caesars also could have been benefitting from its newness on the market, being the latest and shiniest addition to gaming in Virginia. To some degree, revenue could regress over the coming months as Virginians get more accustomed to its presence.
The coming months will also dictate whether $50 million in casino revenue is something that the Virginia Lottery should expect or if it will take another opening to make that a standard number. It could be some time before such an event occurs.
The only other current casino project underway in the state, the HeadWaters Resort in Norfolk, hasn’t yet started construction on its temporary facility. That could begin later this year but nothing is certain as of now. A potential casino in the state capital of Richmond is either further away as a second referendum on that issue is still pending.
If Caesars can maintain its success from June, the state could eventually see a $10 million in tax dollars month. Doing so would require the casino convincing guests to not only check the facility out but return as well.
