A Timeline Of The Rhode Island Sports Betting Industry

Rhode Island has had a regulated sports wagering market for three years.
Within three years’ time, the Ocean State has collected $623,050,600 in bets.
Rhode Island has one mobile sportsbook application with William Hill and two sportsbook venues.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island has had a regulated sports betting industry for three years now, as Governor Gina Raimondo signed the initial sports betting bill on June 22, 2018.

Having their first retail sportsbook wager taken in November 2018 once rules and regulations were put into place, the Ocean State has come a long way over the last three years with a number of small changes to the industry being made during that time.

The Sports Betting Industry In Rhode Island In 2021

Rhode Island sports betting has two retail locations for sports bettors to wager on worldwide events. There is the Twin River Casino & Hotel in Lincoln and the Twin River Casino and Hotel in Tiverton. Each of these land-based sportsbooks is operated by William Hill.

In March of 2019, Raimondo added mobile sportsbooks as a part of the regulated sports gaming market in Rhode Island. At the time, it was stipulated that sports bettors sign up to use these platforms at either one of the casinos in the state before they could be used.

However, once an account was set up, the platform could be accessed statewide. William Hill is the only online operator in the Ocean State to date, tied to their brick-and-mortar venues.

In July of 2020, the in-person sign-up that was written within the law was eliminated, allowing gamblers to open mobile sports betting accounts from wherever they were in the state. By September of that year, online sports wagers in R.I. surged by 231.5%.

Since then, the regulated sports betting industry in the state has been ruled by the mobile sportsbook aspect which takes in the bulk of all handle.

Business Now And In The Future

Since 2018, Rhode Island has seen $623,050,600 in handle, $55,322,777 in revenue, and $28,214,616 in tax revenue holds at a rate of 8.9% according to the yearly reports posted by the Rhode Island Lottery. With each month, the popularity of gambling on sporting events continues to grow in the state.

Ever since mobile sports wagers were given all-access without an in-person registration component, the industry has been on the rise as far as the handle and revenue are concerned.

This upward trajectory is expected to continue especially into the NFL season.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.