Rhode Island may end IGT sports betting monopoly

Rhode Island regulators are exploring whether to end the state’s online sports betting monopoly, and multiple major sportsbook operators have expressed interest.

The Rhode Island Department of Revenue Lottery Division issued a Request for Information earlier this year to gauge interest if it were to open the market to more sports betting operators. International Game Technology has held an exclusive contract to operate online sports betting through the lottery’s Sportsbook RI app.

“[The] Lottery is moving ahead with its examination of whether adding more apps is feasible,” lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi said in an email to the Rhode Island Current.

The lottery received responses by the 22 August deadline from eight sportsbook operators looking to access the market. IGT’s exclusive contract runs through November 2026. The operators that responded were:

• Bally’s
• BetMGM
• DraftKings
• Fanatics
• FanDuel
• IGT
• Kambi
• OpenBet

Bally’s is based in Providence and operates two casinos in the state, which also have in-person sportsbooks. The state also became the seventh state to legalize online casino gambling in 2023, and Bally’s launched its Bally Bet platform in 2024.

Push to end Rhode Island sports betting monopoly

In the last Rhode Island fiscal year, the state generated $14 million in taxes from the effective 51% tax on IGT’s sports betting revenue.

State sports betting monopolies have often received negative reviews from bettors, and on 7 September, during the first weekend of the NFL season, IGT’s servers went down for 75 minutes for Rhode Island betting customers.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers discussed a bill to expand the market. Senator Frank Ciccone’s bill to end the IGT monopoly passed the Senate 30-3, but the House did not take it up before the session ended in June.

“With legalized sports betting flourishing across the country, there is ample evidence on how this new industry works best for consumers and the state,” Ciccone said during the Senate approval. “And what we are seeing is that having only one company exclusively operate is not in the best interests of consumers or from a revenue-generating standpoint.”

Lawmakers introduced a similar bill in 2024.

The lottery published a Spectrum Gaming Group study earlier this year that recommended adding at least three and up to five new operators to the state.

There are multiple other sports betting monopolies across the US. In Florida, the Seminole-owned Hard Rock Sportsbook is the only operator, while DraftKings is the sole option in Oregon and New Hampshire.

BetRivers is the single sportsbook provider in Delaware. Like in Rhode Island, Delaware lawmakers have looked at potentially expanding their sports betting market.

In Montana, Intralot has an exclusive deal with the state lottery.