Rhode Island Sports Betting Ready By Late 4Q

Although it may not come in time for the kickoff of the NFL season, Rhode Island will officially have sports betting by mid-November. The delay is due to allow an independent consultant to fully vet the state-owned sportsbook.

On August 24, the Rhode Island Department of Revenue announced a five-year deal with International Game Technology (IGT) PLC, and commercial partner, William Hill PLC, to operate a legal sportsbook in the state. The contract also contains options for two additional five-year stints. The Rhode Island Lottery will oversee all legal sports betting operations.

Originally, sports betting in Rhode Island was set to be allowed in the state by October 1, but the program needed to fully vetted, hence the delay until mid-November. In the contract, the Lottery and Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) agreed “to perform third-party, independent testing before the system is implemented.”

“GLI will issue a letter of certification that the system developed by IGT meets all necessary requirements before go-live,” according to a statement issued by the Rhode Island Department of Revenue.

Rhode Island Sports Betting Implementation

After requesting proposals for sports betting vendors back in April, the IGT was the only one to respond to Rhode Island’s request.

The RFP initially called for bidders to include online sports betting. However, now they will settle for sports betting at the Twin River Gaming Facility in Lincoln and another casino planned in Tiverton.

IGT and the Lottery are familiar with one another, though. Back in 2003, they signed a 20-year deal with the state to be its gaming provider and “rights to be the exclusive provider of information technology hardware, software, and related services for all Rhode Island Lottery games,” according to a lottery spokesman.

Rhode Island Betting Revenue Breakdown

For the fiscal year of 2019, which began on July 1, Rhode Island expects to collect around $23.5 million in revenue. However, that figure could be adjusted in November. According to the state’s fiscal year 2019 budget, which legalized sports betting, here’s a breakdown of revenue percentages:

State: 51 percent

IGT: 32 percent

Casinos: 17 percent