Posted on: December 18, 2023, 10:17h.
Last updated on: December 18, 2023, 10:17h.
Hard Rock Bristol in Virginia, a temporary casino inside the former Bristol Mall, continues to see gaming activity dwindle.
The latest revenue report from the Virginia Lottery, which has regulatory oversight of the state’s emerging commercial casino industry, shows that Hard Rock won just $12 million in November. That represents a 4.4% year-over-year decline and marked the casino’s lowest monthly win in its 17-month operating history.
Hard Rock in July 2022 became the first legal casino to open in Virginia history. Two other casinos have since opened — the permanent Rivers Casino Portsmouth property in late January 2023 and another temporary gaming facility, the Danville Casino, in May. Caesars Entertainment is behind the Danville venue where it’s building a $650 million permanent resort to be called Caesars Virginia.
For Hard Rock, November marked the third consecutive month of gross gaming revenue (GGR) declines. The casino won about $37.5 million between September through November, which is almost 9% below the same three-month period in 2022.
Hard Rock’s Bristol casino offers 908 slots and 29 table games. Slots accounted for $10.1 million of the November win, with tables accounting for the remaining $1.9 million.
During its first 12 months in business, Hard Rock Bristol averaged about $13.7 million in monthly GGR. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Virginia is a $500 million undertaking that will result in a new casino resort hotel at the Bristol Mall complex.
Rivers Turnaround
Rush Street Gaming opted to forgo a temporary casino in favor of pressing ahead full steam with the construction of its permanent Rivers Casino Portsmouth property. The casino is considerably larger than Hard Rock and the Danville Casino, the latter of which has 830 slots and 33 table games.
Rivers Portsmouth won nearly $21.6 million in November on its 1,416 slots and 81 table games. November marked a turnaround for Rivers, as GGR for the Hampton Roads facility totaled approximately $20 million in both September and October.
The Danville Casino won $17.5 million last month, which represented an increase on October’s $16.8 million but lower than the $19.1 million in GGR that the casino generated in September.
Total GGR from the three casinos in November was about $51.2 million. That’s a 3.3% month-to-month gain.
November gaming taxes totaled nearly $10.3 million. Virginia imposes a graduated tax on gaming revenue, but the host cities collect 6% of the gross proceeds. In November, Bristol received about $725,800, Portsmouth collected over $1.5 million, and Danville saw a little more than $1 million.
Economic Powerplants
Virginia lawmakers through 2020 legislation authorized casinos in the cities of Richmond, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville, and Bristol. The gaming expansion was designed to provide those cities, all of which met certain economic hardships defined in the casino statute, with an economic spark.
A gaming study performed in 2020 by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC) forecasted that a five-casino market upon maturity would generate $260 million annually in state gaming taxes and have a “modest economic impact on local economies.”
All but Richmond subsequently passed local referendums approving a casino. Richmonders twice rejected gaming project proposals.
Norfolk officials continue to work with their approved gaming developer, a partnership between the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and billionaire tribal gaming veteran Jon Yarbrough.