Norfolk Casino Opens Five Years After City Voters Approved Gaming
Posted on: November 7, 2025, 09:20h.
Last updated on: November 7, 2025, 09:29h.
- Norfolk’s casino is finally open, albeit in a limited capacity
- The Interim Gaming Hall at Harbor Park offers 132 slots but no table games
The Norfolk casino has finally opened more than five years after voters first authorized gambling in the Hampton Roads city.
Norfolk, famed for being the home of the Navy Fleet Forces Command, is now home to a small casino venue dubbed The Interim Gaming Hall. The temporary gaming facility operates daily from 10 am until 2 am.
The Interim is a 7,200-square-foot pavilion tent located along Park Avenue on the northeastern corner of the Harbor Park Minor League Baseball stadium parking lot. The temporary structure is between the Amtrak Norfolk and Harbor Park Tide Light Rail stations.
“It’s finally here, let the games begin,” said Ron Bailey, the vice president and general manager of the Norfolk casino development. “Come see the latest and greatest slots product in the commonwealth.”
The Interim opened with 132 of the latest slot machines. No table games or sports betting are included. All revenue won by The Interim today will be donated to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.
A self-service beer, wine, and alcoholic seltzer dispenser and a food truck called Ghost Kitchen are among the limited amenities. The booze machine has face-scanning technology to determine a person’s age. If the machine can’t qualify a guest, they can scan their identification, though ID checks at the door require every guest to be over the age of 21.
Preregistration Encouraged
Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming is leading the $750 million development of the permanent Norfolk casino, which is being built adjacent to The Interim. Last year, Boyd became the partner and financier of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s casino plan, Norfolk’s “exclusive gaming developer” for almost a decade, after buying out billionaire Jon Yarbrough.
The Interim and the forthcoming permanent resort along the Elizabeth River will be managed by Boyd and therefore partake in the casino company’s Boyd Rewards. Casino officials are encouraging first-time visitors to The Interim to sign up for Boyd Rewards online, as in-person registration could be long. Rewards cards can be printed at self-service kiosks.
Boyd is offering new Boyd Rewards members a reimbursement in Boyd Play of up to $300 for losses incurred on their first day gambling at The Interim.
Statutory Compliance
Virginia authorized casino gambling in designated cities through legislation in 2020. The bill required that casinos could only be greenlit in the designated cities with subsequent local ballot referendums embracing slot machines and table games.
Norfolk voters backed their proposed casino in November 2020 with 65% support.
Virginia’s gaming law requires that host cities conduct “a subsequent local referendum” if the approved project doesn’t open within five years of a court order proclaiming the results of the election. Should slots not have been turned on in Norfolk by November 15, the state law would have mandated a second local referendum.
The 2020 statute allows temporary casinos to operate at the same physical address as where the permanent casino is being built. Boyd expects to have its to-be-named permanent resort casino opened sometime in 2027.
The integrated resort will include 200 hotel rooms, 1,500 slots, 50 table games, a sportsbook, 13K square feet of meeting space, a 45K-square-foot amenity deck and pool, and eight food and beverage venues. Boyd is also constructing a 1,000-space parking garage, with dedicated spaces for Amtrak riders.
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