The purpose of the RIC is to distribute gaming tax revenues generated from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol these are received in quarterly disbursements from the Virginia Lottery. Each county and city appoints one member that is to serve a two-year term. The Southwest Virginia Regional Improvement Commission (RIC) is represented by 12 counties Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe and the cities of Bristol and Norton. Southwest Virginia Regional Improvement Commission In June 2023, PBS Appalachia Virginia announced that it would construct a 4,000 sq ft (370 m 2) studio at the facility. Bristol Casino will operate until construction is completed on the final Hard Rock Hotel Casino Bristol. The temporary casino opened on Jas 'Bristol Casino - Future Home of Hard Rock' at the former Bristol Mall in Bristol, Virginia. In April 2022, the Virginia Lottery Board issued a facility operator's license to Hard Rock Bristol to operate Virginia's first casino. Hard Rock Casino announced in December 2021 that construction commenced on a temporary casino in the mall. In November 2019, Hard Rock International announced their partnership with the local ownership group, which includes McGlothlin and Stacy, to own and operate the new resort and casino.

Support for a casino in Bristol began in 2018 when two local coal barons, Jim McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy, publicly disclosed their plans to seek a change in state law so they can open a resort casino inside the former Bristol Mall, which closed in 2017. In November 2020, Bristol voters approved the casino referendum, with 5,427 voting Yes (71%) to 2,221 voting No (29%). The legislation also establishes a commission tasked with distributing gaming tax revenues generated by one – Bristol – among the 12 counties and two cities within the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Bristol district. An additional condition was set that each city must hold a referendum on the question of whether to allow casino gaming in the city. In 2020, the Virginia legislators passed a bill allowing the establishment of casinos, but limited to five eligible host cities of Portsmouth, Richmond, Norfolk, Danville, and Bristol. On July 8, 2022, the temporary Bristol Casino had a soft open at the site.

Located at the former Bristol Mall, which operated from 1975–2017, the casino will utilize the existing facility and expand upon it with a hotel and outdoor amphitheater. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol is a future casino and hotel in Bristol, Virginia, slated to be officially open in 2024.

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