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Virginia Lottery released its latest report on gaming activity throughout May. In addition to two Virginia casinos – Hard Rock Bristol and Rivers Casino Portsmouth – the numbers also contain a partial month for Caesars Virginia, which opened on May 15 in Danville.
According to the Virginia Lottery, the three casinos collected $45.5 million in revenue. Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue (AGR), representing total bets minus winnings paid to players.
May revenue figure is a 28.9% increase from the $35.3 million collected in April by HR Bristol and Rivers Casino Portsmouth.
Casinos in Virginia paid $8.2 million in taxes to the Gaming Proceeds Fund.
Newly opened Caesars Virginia earns $12 million in revenue in just two weeks
Only two weeks after Caesars Virginia opened, the casino generated nearly $11.9 million in revenue.
According to the WDBJ7.com article, Ken Larking, Danville City Manager, said:
“This two-week period is a grand opening, everyone’s excited, it’s new, and everybody wants to be there. That’s not going to be the way it performs throughout the next year, but it’s definitely on track and exceeded expectations.”
Danville will receive $715,000 thanks to the 6% state tax rate and nearly $300,000 in additional revenue from the city’s development agreement with Caesars. That amounts to almost $1 million in revenue for the city in just two weeks.
The Virginia Lottery Board approved the casino license for Caesars Virginia, in April 2023. The temporary casino in Danville opened its door to the public on May 15, 2023.
Caesars Virginia outperforms its competition
Given that Caesars Danville was open for only two weeks of the month, it outperformed its competition earning close to $12 million in revenue. The Virginia casino accumulated:
- Nearly $10.1 million came from slot machines
- Around $1.7 million from the tables
As the May revenue report shows, Hard Rock Bristol casino generated nearly $12.9 million in revenue:
- Almost $11 million came from slots (a slight drop from April’s $11.29 million)
- $1.9 million was gathered from table games (a decrease from $2.75 million in April)
HR Bristol’s temporary facility now has 921 slots and 29 table games. The casino received its gaming license in April 2022 and opened to the public in July last year.
Meanwhile, Rivers Portsmouth, significantly bigger than HR Bristol, collected about $20.6 million in revenue:
- $13.9 million from slots (a slight increase from April’s $13.83 million)
- $6.8 million from the tables (a decrease from April’s $7.5 million)
Rivers Casino has been running since January with 1,416 slots and 81 table games. It received its license in November 2022.
