Bristol's Hard Rock Casino records lowest monthly revenue since opening in January

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The Hard Rock Bristol casino experienced a downturn in revenue in January, marking its lowest revenue month to date, according to data released by the Virginia Lottery.

The casino, which is set to relocate to a new permanent location later this year, saw adjusted revenue from slot machines drop below $10 million for the first time.

The Virginia Lottery’s monthly report on casino adjusted gross revenues (AGR) revealed that the Bristol casino generated a total AGR of $12,077,952 in January. This figure represents a notable decline from the previous month's record-setting AGR of $14,924,860 in December.

Adjusted gross revenue is calculated as the amount of gross revenue a casino retains after paying out winnings. In January, the Bristol casino reported $9,908,531 in AGR from slot machines and $2,169,421 from table games. Overall, this total was 10% lower than the AGR recorded in January 2023.

Virginia imposes an 18% tax on casino AGR, with one-third of that amount allocated to the Regional Improvement Commission (RIC), representing more than a dozen local governments in Southwest Virginia. The RIC utilizes these funds to enhance transportation, education, and public safety initiatives.

From January's revenues, the RIC is expected to receive $724,677,bringing the total funds allocated to the organization since the casino's opening in July 2022 to nearly $15 million.

The RIC encompasses the counties of Lee, Scott, Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell, Washington, Smyth, Tazewell, Grayson, Bland, and Wythe, along with the cities of Bristol and Norton. These funds are distributed evenly among the 14 local governments rather than on a population-adjusted basis.

The Bristol casino has maintained an average monthly AGR of $13,064,368 over the past six months since August 2023. However, this figure represents a 6.3% decrease compared to the average AGR of $13,948,777 recorded in the six months from August 2022 through January 2023.