Virginia Casinos Hit Record $75.2M in February Revenue
All three of Virginia’s current casinos had a great February, making for a new monthly revenue record for the state.
Viriginia Casinos continue to set revenue records. © Stephen Poore, Unsplash
Key Facts:
- Virginia Casinos had AGR of $75.2 million in February
- This topped the previous record of $74.9 in December 2024
- Revenue increased 31% YOY for the month
- Caesars Virginia continues to lead in revenue with $31 million for the month
The Old Dominion State continues to post impressive revenue numbers, with February coming in 31% over what should have been a tough comparable. The 2024 calendar included an extra leap year day.
Hard Rock Bristol and Caesars Danville easily outpaced 2024 numbers despite the extra Thursday in last year’s calendar. Rivers Portsmouth felt the increased competition as Hard Rock Bristol moved out of its temporary space in an old mall and into a new $515 million permanent home in November.
Then, Caesars opened the door to its permanent facility in late December. Still, after all that, Portsmouth only missed last year’s numbers by a mere $1 million.
Due to complicated Host City tax agreements and how the state divvies up and taxes proceeds from casinos on a graduated basis based on Adjusted Gross Revenue, February still trailed last December in taxes paid in.
However, the $13.5 million vs. $16.1 million comparison misses the sales tax on all of the new restaurant and shopping venues in the two new permanent facilities as they ramp up.
There is also the employment and income tax on the thousands of new jobs created in November and December as Danville and Bristol opened their new permanent facilities.
A Story of Growth
When we look at slot machine totals at Rivers Portsmouth last year, at this time, we see a total of 1468 in the permanent facility, which opened in 2023. Hard Rock Bristol has 911 in its temporary mall facility, and Caesars Virginia has 808 in its temporary facility.
Fast-forward to today, Bristol has grown to 1484 in its permanent casino, while Caesars boasts an impressive 1477 now that it has its permanent home.
Portsmouth has actually cut back to 1417. The story was much the same with table games. Last year, Portsmouth had 81; today, they have 84, but Bristol only had 29; today, they have 73. Caesars had 33 tables on their floor last February; today, that number sits at an even hundred.
Bristol eked out AGR of 11.6 million in slots last year and $1.6 million in table games. This February, those numbers were $16.4 and $3.3 million, respectively, for a total of $19.7 million.
The story was even better at Caesars. Last February, they hauled in $13.9 million and $4.7 million in slots and table games. This year, those numbers were $21.5 million and $9.6 million, respectively, for a total of $31.1 million.
Conversely, Portsmouth had $18.2 and $7.0 million in AGR last year, and both numbers slid under increasing competition from a much-enhanced product in both Danville and Bristol. The numbers this year were $17.4 and $6.8 million. Total AGR in February 2024 was $25.2 vs $24.2 million this year.
The Year Ahead
While trend lines don’t always tell the whole story, spring and summer are unlikely to see a break in the current pattern. Rivers Portsmouth lacks a hotel, and its location in Portsmouth proper leaves much to be desired. While current plans for a new hotel are in the works, current thinking is it won’t be open until 2027.
Meanwhile, Caesars Danville has over 300 resort hotel rooms, 12 restaurants and bars, a pool, and a spa. Hard Rock Bristol, not to be outdone, also has 300+ rooms, a heated indoor/outdoor pool, ten restaurants and bars, and Hard Rock’s world-famous Rock Spa.
All of this probably spells a tough travel season for the Portsmouth property. Last week also marked the first full day of construction at the new $750 million Norfolk casino, which should open in the Fall of 2027.
This new casino is less than ten minutes from Rivers Portsmouth and almost directly across the Elizabeth River.
With Boyd Gaming joining the project, it would appear that everything is finally in place to close this much-delayed project. With a minimum of 200 hotel rooms and 1500 slots, construction here should probably serve as the last warning to Rivers that they need to update their Portsmouth casino or face imminent peril.
