Rhode Island looks to secure additional sports betting revenue with authorization of mobile wagering
Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio introduced Wednesday a bill aiming to authorize the provision of sports betting within state limits. The legislator said late last year that he would push to bring digital wagering to Rhode Island as an additional revenue generator.
Rhode Island was the seventh US state to go live with legal sports betting in the wake of a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court that struck down a long-standing federal ban on the practice. Twin River Casino in Lincoln opened the state’s first sportsbook on November 26. Its sister casino Twin River Tiverton went live with in-person sports betting a week later.
The two gambling venues were originally expected to bring sports gambling to the state a few months earlier, but delays of different nature prevented that from happening. According to initial projections, the state was to collect sports betting tax revenue of $23.5 million from its two sports betting venues during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. As a result from the delays, Rhode Island now targets tax revenue from the activity of around $11.5 million.
Under the state’s sports gambling law, sportsbooks are taxed at 51% on their revenue. Of the remaining 49%, the casinos hosting the sports betting facilities claim 17%, while IGT, their betting partner, collects 32%.
Mobile Betting – A Convenient Option
In a press release introducing the contents of his bill, Sen. Ruggerio said that in-person sports betting has proved particularly popular in his home state, with lines of bettors oftentimes stretching out the doors of the two operational sportsbooks.
Expanding the existing offering to mobile betting “would provide a convenient option for those wishing to enjoy this form of entertainment” and would “open up the economic benefits” beyond the walls of the two Twin River-branded casinos, one of the state’s top lawmakers further pointed out.
Under his bill, mobile betting would be available at the two casinos as well as anywhere else in the state. Rhode Island residents as well as visitors from other states will be able to wager via a specially designed mobile wagering app as long as they are on the territory of the state.
The bill contains a provision that requires anyone who wants to place wagers via their smartphone to make an initial registration at any of the two sportsbooks where staff would be able to verify the bettors’ age.
Sen. Ruggerio said that sports betting taxes support “critical services” and that they can offset reliance on taxes for state needs.
State lawmakers have been bullish on the success of sports betting, but a better picture of how the nascent market performs is yet to be revealed. The Lincoln-based facility processed $682,000 in betting handle during its first days of operation until the end of November. December results are yet to be released by state regulators.
Rhode Island has one important advantage as it is the first state in the region to go live with sports betting. However, several other states are looking for a piece of the wagering pie, which means that competition might be on the way.
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