Rhode Island sports handle hits $13m in first full month
Consumers in Rhode Island spent more than $13m (£9.9m/€11.4m) on sports betting in December, the first full month of activity in the newly-regulated vertical.
Revenue for the month totalled $957,900, with customers only able to place bets in-person at the state's Twin River Casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton.
Lincoln’s Twin River casino, which launched sports betting on November 26, took a total of $11.1m in sports bets in December, paying out $10.3m in winnings to leave revenue of $843,700.
Meanwhile, the Twin River casino in Tiverton, which went live on December 3, took $2m in wagers and paid out $1.9m, leaving it with revenue of $123,300 for the month.
Since the official launch of regulated sports betting, Rhode Island punters have spent a total of $13.8m on wagers, with revenue from activities coming in at $1m. The first four days of legal wagering at Twin River Lincoln in November saw customers stake $682,000, from which the venue generated revenue of $73,000.
Rhode Island first legalised sports betting in June, just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled on PASPA. The state planned to launch on October 1, but this was delayed due to overunning talks with IGT and William Hill, which signed a deal with the Rhode Island Lottery to manage sports betting services.
Earlier this month, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio put forward a new bill in an effort to expand legal sports wagering in Rhode Island to mobile. Bill 2019-S 0037 would enable the two Twin River casinos to create an app so consumers can place bets via mobile from anywhere in the state.
Image: Morrow Long
