{"id":306,"date":"2026-03-18T12:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=306"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:35","slug":"virginia-casino-revenue-hits-record-high-as-gov-spanberger-weighs-more-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/virginia-casino-revenue-hits-record-high-as-gov-spanberger-weighs-more-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Casino Revenue Hits Record High, as Gov. Spanberger Weighs More Gaming"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Virginia casino revenue reached a new high in February<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The record gaming action comes as Virginia lawmakers seek additional gaming<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gov. Spanberger is undecided on whether she&#8217;ll sign two gaming bills<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Virginia&#8217;s five casinos reported record revenue in February, with players losing $95.2 million to the houses.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_379832\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-379832\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-379832 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Virginia casino revenue Spanberger\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_2437319333-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is pictured in March 2024 while a United States congresswoman representing the commonwealth&#8217;s 7th congressional district. Spanberger will soon decide whether more gambling is authorized in Virginia. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The February gaming report was propped up by the temporary casino in Petersburg running for its first full month. Live! Casino Petersburg opened on Jan. 22 with more than 926 slot machines and 32 live dealer table games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Live! Petersburg generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $15 million in February. The Cordish Companies is operating the temporary casino in Petersburg as it builds the permanent $600 million Live! Casino &amp; Hotel Virginia. The resort is slated to open in late 2027.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Virginia&#8217;s other temporary casino, The Interim Gaming Hall in Norfolk, a considerably smaller facility with only 132 gaming machines and no table games, opened last November. The Interim reported February GGR of $957K.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Boyd Gaming is underway with constructing a $750 million to-be-named permanent casino in Norfolk. Boyd is also targeting a 2027 opening.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Permanent Casinos Perform Well<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It wasn&#8217;t only the interim casinos that helped push Virginia&#8217;s commercial casino industry to a new monthly high. The state&#8217;s three permanent casinos experienced significant gains in February.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Caesars Virginia in Danville reported February win of $31.8 million from the casino&#8217;s 1,497 slots and 94 tables. That marked a 2% year-over-year gain.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Rivers Casino Portsmouth was second at $26.4 million. The casino&#8217;s 1,420 and 84 tables increased GGR by 9% from the prior year. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Bristol won $20.9 million on its 1,366 slots and 73 tables, a 6% gain on February 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Combined, Virginia casino revenue of $95.15 million represented a 27% year-over-year surge.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Virginia Gaming Expansion<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) will soon decide whether more gaming comes to the commonwealth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">While lawmakers in Richmond folded on iGaming, they passed a bill to allow a commercial casino resort in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fairfax-county-asks-gov-spanberger-veto-tysons-casino-bill\/\">Fairfax County<\/a>. The General Assembly additionally embraced legislation to create a regulatory framework for slot-like skill games in small businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Spanberger has previously expressed concern about authorizing additional gaming without the formation of a unified regulatory agency. Since Virginia legalized commercial casinos and sports betting, the state has tasked the Virginia Lottery Board with such governance.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Governor Spanberger is deeply concerned about any discussions of gaming expansion in Virginia without first establishing a single entity with clear authority, consistent standards, and strong compliance and enforcement capabilities,&#8221; Agriculture and Forestry Secretary Katie Frazier told the House General Laws Committee in February.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-skill-games-bill-passed-by-general-assembly\/\">Virginia skill game<\/a> bill would place further regulatory burden on the Lottery Board, which would be responsible for the administration of up to 25,000 skill games and hundreds of host locations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Skill game opponents say slot machines should stay inside casinos. Critics additionally claim that small businesses like restaurants, bars, and convenience stores are ill-equipped to ensure that underage people don&#8217;t access the games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has asked Spanberger to veto the bill to designate Tysons for a casino.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-revenue-hits-record-high-in-february\/\">Virginia Casino Revenue Hits Record High, as Gov. Spanberger Weighs More Gaming<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia casino revenue reached a new high in February The record gaming action comes as Virginia lawmakers seek additional gaming Gov. Spanberger is undecided on whether she&#8217;ll sign two gaming bills Virginia&#8217;s five casinos reported record revenue in February, with players losing $95.2 million to the houses. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is pictured in March&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}