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Virginia’s Norfolk Casino Sets October 30 Groundbreaking For Permanent Site

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming will break ground on a permanent casino on the Norfolk waterfront on Oct. 30.

Construction Machine Readies Ground For New Building
Photo by Shutterstock/Smileus
J.R. Duren Avatar
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On Halloween Eve, it will be all treats and no tricks in Norfolk.

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming will break ground on a permanent casino on the Norfolk waterfront on Oct. 30. Pamunkey Chief Robert Gray said he’s glad the groundbreaking day finally has a spot on the calendar.

“We feel very comfortable and we’re just excited to be able to bring the project to fruition for the city and the Commonwealth and the Tribe,” Gray told News 3.

PlayUSA reached out to the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming but did not receive a response.

Key takeaways

  • Construction on a Norfolk casino will begin on Oct. 30.
  • Groundbreaking comes nearly five years after the city’s voters approved a casino.
  • The casino will be the fourth of five approved by voters in various Virginia cities.
  • Brick-and-mortar casinos are the only choice for Virginians as online casinos are still illegal.

Norfolk casino groundbreaking comes ahead of 2025 deadline

Construction on Norfolk’s casino is starting just in time.

Back in 2020, Norfolk’s voters approved a casino for the city. Part of that approval came with a deadline: Gaming had to be underway by November 2025.

To meet that goal, the tribe and Boyd will build a temporary casino that will open just before the deadline. The temporary option isn’t a new concept; Danville, VA has a casino that will close once construction on Caesars Virginia finishes later this year.

The permanent facility will feature 1,500 slot machines, 50 table games, a hotel with 200 rooms, and eight restaurants.

Earlier this month, the Norfolk city council approved the casino project, making the Oct. 30 groundbreaking possible.

Temporary casino will provide a boost to Virginia’s casino market

Virginia is a relatively new casino market; lawmakers approved casinos in 2020.

They limited gaming to five cities: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond. Bristol, Danville, and Portsmouth have opened casinos.

In September, revenue for the three VA casinos combined for $56.6 million in adjusted gaming revenue. Rivers Casino Portsmouth led the way with $24.2 million, followed by Caesars Virginia ($18.3 million) and Hard Rock Bristol ($14.1 million).

It’s hard to tell how much revenue the forthcoming Norfolk casino could generate. Norfolk is the fourth-largest city in the state, so the population is there to make it a top-two casino for revenue.

However, Rivers Casino Portsmouth is just a 15-minute drive from where the Norfolk casino will be. The proximity of the two casinos will likely do two things: reduce Rivers Casino’s revenue and hold back Norfolk’s chances of being the highest-earning casino in the state.

Notwithstanding, the casino’s revenue will be a nice addition to state totals. We could see Rivers Casino’s revenue fall with a million or two of Caesars.

Norfolk’s casino could very well eclipse $15 million, pushing the state’s total to more than $65 million in a month like September.

J.R. Duren Avatar
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J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

View all posts by J.R. Duren

J.R. Duren has covered the gambling beats for more than a dozen states for Catena Media since 2015. His past reporting experience includes two years at the Villages Daily Sun, and he is a first-place winner at the Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest.

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