Chavdar Vasilev is a journalist covering the casino and sports betting market sectors for CasinoBeats. He joined CasinoBeats in May 2025 and reports on industry-shaping stories across the US and beyond, including legislative debates, market...
Read Full BioNorfolk’s temporary casino, known as the Interim Gaming Hall, has generated about $1.4 million in gross gaming revenue in its first 23 days of operation, according to data from the Virginia Lottery.
The facility opened on November 7 and features 132 slot machines, with no table games available. It will operate until the full, permanent resort, backed by Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, opens in 2027.
Once completed, the property will feature 1,500 slot machines, 50 table games, a 200-room hotel, and multiple restaurants.
While the initial figures indicate player activity and early engagement, Norfolk’s opening performance falls significantly below the early results recorded by other temporary casinos that helped establish Virginia’s modern casino market.
How Norfolk Compares With Caesars Danville & Hard Rock Bristol
Virginia’s first wave of casinos provides useful benchmarks for evaluating Norfolk’s early performance — particularly the temporary facilities launched in Danville and Bristol, both of which opened with broader gaming offerings and significantly larger footprints.
Caesars Virginia (Danville)
Caesars Virginia’s temporary casino opened in May 2023 and immediately delivered strong early results.
In its first two weeks, the Danville facility generated nearly $12 million in gaming revenue, according to Virginia Lottery data. Within roughly six weeks, total revenue had surpassed $30 million.
However, it’s important to note that Caesars opened a much larger facility. The temporary casino included 768 slots and 25 table games. The availability of table games played a significant role.
City officials at the time described Caesars’ early performance as exceeding expectations, with tax revenue quickly outpacing initial forecasts.
Hard Rock Bristol
Hard Rock’s temporary casino in Bristol — Virginia’s first casino to open — launched in July 2022 and posted similarly strong early numbers.
In its first whole month of operations, the Bristol temporary casino generated approximately $11.7 million in adjusted gross revenue, primarily driven by slots but supplemented by table games and other offerings.
The Bristol site opened with an even larger gaming floor than Caesars, featuring 870 slots, 21 tables, and a sportsbook.
As with Danville, the scale and scope of Bristol’s temporary casino placed it well ahead of Norfolk’s interim hall in terms of immediate revenue potential.
What About Rivers Portsmouth?
Rivers Casino Portsmouth is not included in the temporary-casino comparison, as it opened in January 2023 as a fully built, permanent casino without an interim facility. As a result, its early revenue performance is not directly comparable to Norfolk’s temporary gaming hall or other stopgap venues.
Petersburg Temporary Casino Nears Opening
Virginia’s fifth casino in Petersburg is preparing to open its own temporary facility in January 2026, with staffing efforts underway.
The development partners, Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise, have begun hosting job fairs and recruitment events as they move closer to launching the temporary gaming facility. The hiring push includes positions across gaming operations, hospitality, security, and food and beverage services.
The temporary Petersburg casino will also be significantly larger than the one in Norfolk. It will feature over 900 slot machines and more than 30 table games. The size positions its launch profile closer to Caesars Danville and Hard Rock Bristol.
Like Norfolk, the permanent Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia resort is expected to open in 2027. It will feature over 1,600 slots and more than 60 table games.
