PROVIDENCE – Total revenue from sports betting for the state in February was -$890,623, bringing the to-date fiscal 2019 total sports betting revenue to $300,265 since its launch in Rhode Island in November.
The state typically receives 51 percent of the share of sportsbook (the term applied to this type of gaming) revenue after commissions, and operating and allocated expenses, which itself is the money left over after paying off the winnings that gamblers have earned. The remainder is then split between the casinos, the institution setting the betting odds and the state.
When Your Period Is Disrupting Your Life, It’s Time to Talk About It
For many women, heavy or irregular menstrual cycles are often brushed off as “normal”—something to…
Learn More
February, however, turned the model on its head. Rhode Island bettors beat the house for the month, betting $20.7 million, resulting in payouts of $21.6 million.
Bettors at the Twin River Casino were luckier than those at Tiverton Casino, with a $908,264 in sportsbook revenue loss in Lincoln (where $16.6 million was bet and $17.6 million was paid out) and a sportsbook profit of $17,641 in Tiverton.
The February betting period included wagers on the National Football League Super Bowl, at which the New England Patriots covered the point spread against the Los Angeles Rams in the team’ 13-3 victory. January figures included betting on the NFL playoffs and early Super Bowl betting.
So far, state collections from the lottery are behind projections. Lawmakers projected sports waging to bring in $23.5 million in fiscal 2019 in their budget in June, but have since revised the figure down to $12 million. In a report released this week, the R.I. Department of Revenue said that through January the state’s take from sports betting was $3.8 million less than expected.
“Yes, we are aware that performance is not meeting projections,” R.I. Lottery spokesman Paul Grimaldi said Friday. “The estimate was optimistic.”
Grimaldi also noted that the state is happy with operations separate from early operation revenue outcome.
“Every day is a new day at the sportsbook,” he said, “and it’ll be that way until the end of the year.” Grimaldi added that the sports betting operations will soon include kiosks and eventually mobile betting, expanding access to the platforms. He also said that bettors wagered $6.5 million on the first round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament alone.
The NCAA tournament does not feature a hometown team.
Grimaldi noted that, “Obvious bets are going to be few and far between.”
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
