Should R.I. have more than one app to bet on sports? Study says yes, but only if change is made.

Yahoo

23-05-2025

A computer monitor displays betting odds and promotions on FanDuel's website. Wagers are not currently allowed on the website in Rhode Island, though state regulators are now considering letting vendors such as FanDuel operate in the state. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
A new report commissioned by the Rhode Island Lottery recommends the state should add four to six new online sports betting vendors to boost its competitiveness with its neighbors, but only if it makes itself more attractive to popular companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.
The report published by Spectrum Gaming Group on May 1 notes that there is no prohibition against increasing the number of authorized service providers beyond the one app currently managed by the gambling company that exclusively supplies the state's lottery equipment and technology.
But when Rhode Island Lottery renewed its contract with International Game Technology (IGT) PLC to run the state's digital sportsbook, it was with a clause that the company would have the exclusive rights to handle all digital wagers through November 2026.
State lawmakers have sought to end IGT's monopoly of Rhode Island's digital sportsbook, but such proposals were never going to head to the House floor this year.
'There is no need to adopt legislation this year because the state is under contract with the current vendor for another year,' House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said in a statement to Rhode Island Current.
Rhode Island Lottery, however, is now starting to consider upping the number of apps beyond the existing Sportsbook RI. Director Mark Furcolo informed the legislative committee that oversees the state's gambling sector on Monday that the lottery intends to issue a request for information (RFI) on the matter in early 2026.
'The purpose of the RFI is to gauge the level of interest in, and by which companies, providing a sports wagering product here and if not, why not,' Lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi said in an email.
But companies may not be fully interested in expanding to Rhode Island due to its 51% tax on operators' revenues — which is tied with New York and New Hampshire for the steepest in the country. When the state inked IGT's initial contract in 2018, it was the only bidder to respond to the lottery's request for proposals.
Spectrum suggests the state lower the tax rate.
The report also recommends that the state allow online betting servers to be hosted outside of the state's two existing casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton — where any company would have to pay a 17% hosting fee to Bally's Corp. Such a change would require a constitutional change approved by Rhode Island voters.
Spectrum's recommendations come as legislators have introduced bills this year to open up the market beyond the single app managed by the gambling company that exclusively supplies the state's lottery equipment and technology.
The companion bills by Rep. Matthew Dawson and Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone would allow at least five sports betting vendors to open by July 1, 2026 — opening the door for companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel to take wagers in a state where they've been barred from doing so since the state first launched sports betting over five ago.
Sports bettors have one app in R.I. More may be on the way.
Ciccone's bill received its initial hearing before the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming, which he chairs, on April 30. Dawson's bill was heard by the House Committee on Finance on May 1. Both were held for further study, as is standard for an initial vetting by a legislative panel.
'We need more competition,' Dawson, an East Providence Democrat, said in an interview. 'If you have a monopoly, you have no reason to innovate.'
The state was the first New England state to legalize sports wagering in 2018, but neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts have since entered the market and have only eaten away Rhode Island's revenue.
Massachusetts, which launched online sports betting in March 2023, collected nearly $10.4 million in taxable revenue solely from wagers on the seven apps available there in just March of 2025.
Connecticut, which has three sports betting vendors, brought in $21.4 million in tax revenue in fiscal year 2024.In the same time period, Rhode Island saw $19.2 million in sports betting revenue transferred to the state's general fund.
'There's a significant amount of tax revenue we're not getting because we've decided we're going to let one company run the whole thing,' Dawson said.
Fiscal notes on what Rhode Island could receive should it expand to five sports betting vendors have not been filed by the House and Senate. But Ciccone and Dawson point to Washington D.C., where wagers increased 172% in the last year after its Council approved expanding sports betting to additional platforms.
'That's significant,' Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, said in an interview. 'And with the problems we're having, why not try to bring in more players and see what we can do?'
Ciccone was referring to the state's TK deficit heading into the fiscal year starting July 1, 2026.
Along with additional revenue, Ciccone and Dawson argue that many users don't like the existing Sportsbook RI app. Dawson told Rhode Island Current he knows several bettors who go to the McDonalds in Seekonk, Massachusetts to place bets from apps other than IGT's.
Lack of promotions and bonuses have made up many negative online reviews users have left on App Store and Google Play. Ciccone said his friend, the late Senate President Ruggerio, also had issues with the limitations of IGT's online sportsbook.
'He hated that app,' Ciccone recalled.
Shekarchi said he has never used the app, but that he has heard both positive and negative experiences from others who have used it.
IGT spokesperson Mike DeAngelis said the feedback the company receives tends to be positive.
'We work with the Lottery to ensure a great player experience with the Sportsbook RI app,' he said.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX