North Carolina residents in the eastern portion of the state have begun flocking across the border to Virginia to access that state’s new retail casinos, according to Jim Longworth, a broadcaster based in Kernersville. Although North Carolina has three Class III tribal casinos, they’re all in the western part of the state, making Caesars Virginia the closest option for many North Carolinians.
The recently opened casino in Danville sits just 45 miles from Greensboro. It’s also just five miles from the northern border of North Carolina. The Caesars Virginia casino is the type of venue that has and will continue to attract customers from the southern border of Virginia. Which is why North Carolina should move to issue a license for a casino in the central and eastern part of the state, Longworth says in an opinion piece for YES! Weekly.
[I]t’s not surprising that the Danville parking lot is always filled with cars from North Carolina.
All of this historic one-way traffic has put millions of North Carolina dollars into Virginia’s coffers while our state legislators continue to drag their feet on creating new revenue streams from non-traditional sources.
North Carolina permits casino gaming. The state has three tribal casinos. Two are owned and operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), and one by the Catawba Nation. Each of those casinos exists in the far western portion of the Tar Heel State. They are:
Could commercial casinos come to North Carolina?
Longworth and others in North Carolina feel it’s time for the state to authorize commercial casinos in regions needing economic development. He suggests that should include the heavily populated Piedmont Triad region, which includes Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. That cluster of north-central NC cities are within short driving distance of Danville and its Caesars Virginia casino.
In order to allow a new casino that would compete with what lures North Carolinians to Virginia, NC law would have to be amended to allow commercial gaming. That would permit companies like Caesars to set up shop here. There has been one such effort already, in 2023. However, that casino bill stalled and never came to a vote.
It almost seems as if Virginia is trying to place its casinos on the edge of the border with neighboring North Carolina. Two of Virginia’s four newest casinos are situated very near the border of the two states. Given its location in the south central region of Virginia, Caesars Virginia in Danville is the closest gaming property for residents in eastern North Carolina. Raleigh, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in the state, is only 82 miles from Danville.
New tribal casinos in Piedmont Region would require federal action
There is an alternative strategy for casino expansion in eastern North Carolina. It would be to seek a new compact for new tribal-operated gaming centers. But, that option is not simple, either.
In the Piedmont region, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation has expressed interest in building a casino. However, that nation has only been recognized at the state level. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 requires tribal nations to have federal recognition in order to conduct gaming of any type in the United States.
Longworth points out that casino gaming can be advantageous to poor counties.
What’s most important to note, is that [Virginia has] only selected localities [for casino sites] that were economically distressed, and that’s something that our elected officials in the Piedmont Triad should consider.
Longworth identifies Mount Airy, Randolph, and Surry, as potential locations for a future North Carolina casino.
If our General Assembly followed Virginia’s lead and designated five economically distressed counties to hold referenda on casino gambling, it stands to reason that one of them would be in the Piedmont, say for instance, in Surry or Randolph. A casino in Mount Airy would make sense because of its close proximity to both the Triad and southern Virginia.
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