- Retail’s share of Rhode Island’s September handle rose from 14.2% to 17.3% as casinos took more bets and the state’s online app took fewer.
- Total handle fell 7.2% to $36.1 million, but revenue rose 8.8% to $3.1 million.
- A second online sportsbook, Bally Bet, can’t take bets before Nov. 26.
CRANSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island’s two casino sportsbooks gained on the state’s only online app in September. The Rhode Island Lottery’s September report shows retail handle rose 13.5% to $6.26 million, while online handle fell 10.6% to $29.8 million.
It hasn’t been a one-month shift. Through the first three months of the fiscal year, retail handle is up 15.7% to $13.1 million, while online is down 4.4% to $73.8 million. That puts Rhode Island sports betting at odds with Nevada, where counter handle fell 22.3% in September and mobile reached 71.7% of bets.
Bally’s Twin River Lincoln led the way, with handle up 15.7% to $4.33 million, and Bally’s Tiverton rose 8.8% to $1.93 million. But the two casinos remain well short of September 2024, when they took nearly $9 million.
Overall, handle has now fallen for two straight Septembers, from $43.6 million in 2024 to $36.1 million. Still, legal sportsbooks won $3.1 million, up from $2.85 million last September, as hold climbed from 7.3% to 8.6%.
The state’s 51% share works out to about $1.58 million.
Online did the heavy lifting. Sportsbook Rhode Island’s win rose 11.8% to $2.57 million, as hold jumped from 6.9% to 8.6%. Twin River’s win fell 16.4% to $377,300, while Tiverton’s rose 53.1% to $150,356.
Second App Coming
Online handle is down 13.8% from the $34.6 million bettors placed in September 2024, and Sportsbook Rhode Island won’t have the market to itself much longer. The Lottery picked Bally’s in May to launch a second online sportsbook, and Bally Bet can’t take bets before Nov. 26, when IGT’s exclusivity ends.
