Published on: October 10, 2025, 05:59h.
Updated on: October 9, 2025, 02:21h.
- Rhode Island’s potential sports betting expansion faces challenges
- The Rhode Island Lottery oversees all gambling activities, including sports wagering
The Rhode Island Lottery received eight responses for its Request for Information (RFI), aiming to gather insights from qualified sports wagering service providers interested in the possible market expansion.
Currently, Rhode Islanders have access to just one sports betting option — Sportsbook Rhode Island, powered by IGT, the Lottery’s technology partner which also operates its lottery games and video lottery terminals (VLTs) in the state’s casinos.
IGT’s contract for managing the state’s sports betting activities is set to expire on November 25, 2026. Earlier this year, the Lottery engaged Spectrum Gaming to analyze how potential market expansion might influence revenue and benefits for the state.
Spectrum advised conducting an RFI before the close of 2025 to explore alternatives to the current B2B provider and assess potential interest from B2C providers in the existing single-provider framework.
Challenges for Expansion
Rhode Island’s Constitution mandates that all gambling activities are regulated through the state-operated Lottery. Consequently, the 2018 sports betting regulation conferred operational and regulatory power to the Lottery over all elements of sports wagering.
IGT’s exclusive sportsbook arrangement stipulates that 51% of the gross revenue generated from sports wagers, which includes the winnings from bettors, is allocated to the state. Meanwhile, Bally’s, which manages the two VLT casinos — Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton — receives 17% of the sports betting revenues, with IGT retaining the remaining 32%.
Additionally, the local governments of Tiverton and Lincoln benefit by receiving $200K annually for hosting the state’s sole physical sportsbooks within the Bally’s establishments.
Entities that responded to the Lottery’s RFI, alongside IGT and Bally’s, include DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics, BetMGM, Kambi, and OpenBet. However, their feedback has not yet been disclosed.
Spectrum has pointed out various issues that may deter sportsbook businesses from entering the Rhode Island market, suggesting that legislative changes would be necessary for the state to facilitate an open sports betting environment.
Spectrum proposes that Rhode Island should consider reducing its effective tax rate to somewhere between 20% and 35%, lowered host fee payments to Bally’s phased over several years to ease tensions with current operators, and introduce an annual flat-fee license renewal for market players.
An additional obstacle is the requirement within the Rhode Island Constitution that Class III casino gambling, including sports betting, is restricted to physical casinos. Although online sports betting is permitted, it must be conducted through servers that are located within Bally’s casino premises.
One appealing aspect for potential entrants is that Rhode Island permits individuals aged 18 and older to engage in sports betting, in contrast to the 21 and over restrictions in neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The Smallest State’s Sports Betting Landscape
Rhode Island’s 51% tax on gross sports betting revenue is among the highest in the nation, comparable to New York and New Hampshire. While major sportsbooks readily share significant portions of their earnings with New York, which boasts a population of around 20 million, Rhode Island’s population is less than 1.2 million.
In the 2025 fiscal year, New York sportsbooks accepted $24 billion in bets, generating over $2.1 billion in gross revenue, while Rhode Island’s single sportsbook handled $473 million in wagers, retaining less than $37.8 million.