The City of Portsmouth has experienced an economic surge since the opening of Rivers Casino in January 2023. 

Rush Street Gaming, a gaming operator from Chicago, launched Rivers Casino Portsmouth near the Tidewater Community College campus just over two years back. The $340 million initiative has proven to be a successful gamble for Rush and the city. 

In 2023, the casino featuring 1,450 slot machines, 60 table games, and a BetRivers Sportsbook produced gross gaming revenue (GGR) of around $250 million. The casino's earnings increased by nearly 25% last year, reaching $310 million. 

The city has gained significantly from the casino, which has generated approximately $35 million in local tax revenue. The location features a 3,000-seat entertainment venue that draws major performances, a Topgolf Swing Suite, conference and meeting spaces, and six dining choices, contributing to Portsmouth's ability to draw new tourists to the Hampton Roads area. 

With a newly enlarged go-kart venue named LeMans Karting, new restaurants launching, and more cruise ships arriving in Norfolk, Portsmouth Tourism Director Keith Toler noted that the city has undergone a revival. It has generated a desirable challenge, though, with a demand for additional hotel rooms. 

Rooms at Portsmouth Hotel 

As the sole commercial casino featuring slots and live dealer table games along the east coast from Washington, D.C., to the Carolinas and Georgia, Rivers Casino Portsmouth has drawn numerous gamblers from the southeastern states. Locating nearby accommodations has proven difficult for numerous guests. 

Portsmouth has less than 500 hotel accommodations. In contrast, nearby Norfolk offers nearly 1,800 hotel rooms.

"We don’t have enough hotel rooms. It is a good problem, but it is a problem,” Toler told The Virginian-Pilot. Toler explained that a conference in March required 70 hotel rooms in Norfolk.

When the Portsmouth Economic Development Authority decided to name Rush Street Gaming as the city’s casino partner, the agreement did not entail a hotel obligation. Rush has an extensive history of avoiding the construction of on-site hotels at its casinos. 

Rush launched Rivers Casino Des Plaines in Illinois, as well as Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, both lacking hotels. The hotel at Rivers Pittsburgh was launched by the company over ten years after the casino placed its initial bet. In Philadelphia, Rivers collaborated with a hotel last year, about 13 years after the casino began operations. 

Portsmouth Rivers Hotel 

Rush does not intend to construct a hotel in Portsmouth. However, its hand may be compelled in the years ahead. 

The 2019 contract between Rush and the City of Portsmouth stipulates that the company "has to begin development of a Hotel and Conference Center within one year" after satisfying specific revenue requirements. 

The conditions commence a hotel project if Rivers Casino Portsmouth achieves gross gaming revenue of $175 million or above within a 12-month timeframe or $250 million over two years, while “a casino situated within 15 miles” is also in operation. 

Boyd Gaming has begun building a casino in Norfolk just a few miles away. The casino resort, costing $750 million and featuring a 200-room hotel, is anticipated to launch in late 2027.