Caesars Virginia Opens in Danville with Dennis Rodman Placing First Bet

^{Dennis Rodman, seen here at a Chicago Bulls game vs. the Washington Wizards, placed the first sports bet at the long-awaited grand opening of the Caesars Virginia casino in Danville. (Image: Charles Rex Arbogast / AP)}

Caesars Virginia celebrated its grand opening last week, marking the opening of a casino that has been in the making for six years in Danville. 

Thousands of customers came to the casino on its opening day, including basketball legend Dennis Rodman, who placed a ceremonial first bet at the Caesars Sportsbook.

Parade Leads to Casino Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

On Tuesday morning last week, casino and city officials participated in a parade through the city of Danville, which ended at the front of the casino, located on the site of the former Dan River Inc. textile mill. There, the casino held a reception and a ribbon cutting to officially open Caesars Virginia.

“The entire team and myself, we couldn’t be more excited to finally get here and welcome all of our guests in the community to Caesars Virginia,” general manger Chris Albrecht said during the ceremony. “It’s been a long time coming, a lot of hiring, a lot of training, a lot of getting our spaces ready, but we can’t wait to open our doors.”

“I hope you’re proud of what we delivered here,” Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg told those in attendance. “You as Danville and a commonwealth had choices among many strong operators.”

The idea of placing a casino in Danville was first floated to city officials by Delegate Danny Marshall (R-Danville) in 2018. In April 2020, the Virginia General Assembly included Danville among the five cities that would be eligible casino host cities. In November 2020, city voters overwhelmingly approved a casino in the city that would be developed by Caesars, the gaming provider selected by the city earlier that year. Caesars and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians own Caesars Virginia as a joint venture.

The project then faced a series of delays. Initially expected to be opened in mid-2023, Caesars Virginia saw its opening date pushed back to 2024, due to supply chain issues following the COVID-19 pandemic. Caesars opened a temporary casino, known simply as Danville Casino, in May 2023.

The grand opening faced a final delay even in December. The ceremonies were set to take place on December 12, before Caesars Virginia asked to push the opening back five days to prepare.

“What an incredible day for the city of Danville,” Caesars Entertainment regional president Barron Fuller said during the opening. “What an incredible day for the 130,000 unique customers that we’ve already put through our temporary facility and for those customers that will be first-time visitors to this permanent facility today.” 

Danville Expects Significant Tax Benefits from Resort

The city of Danville has already earned about $20 million in gaming tax revenue and an additional $9 million in supplemental payments since the opening of the temporary facility, according to Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones. The city expects to earn about $35 million to $40 million annually in tax revenue from the permanent resort.

Caesars Virginia includes a 90,000-foot gaming floor, which includes a poker room and sportsbook along with about 1,500 slots and 79 table games. There’s also a 320-room hotel, a live entertainment venue that can hold 2,500 guests, meeting and convention space, and several dining options.

Along with Danville, the cities of Bristol, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Richmond were selected as potential hosts for casinos in 2020. However, voters in Richmond twice rejected referendums on a casino in the city, eventually leading Virginia legislators to strip Richmond of its host status and make Petersburg a casino host instead. 

After a contentious process, Petersburg officials selected the Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprises as the city’s gaming developers. Voters in Petersburg overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia in November.