PROVIDENCE – Just in the nick of time for the National Football League regular season to begin, Rhode Island has soft-launched its mobile sports-betting app.
The app, called Sportsbook Rhode Island, is now available for download or use online, with information about the service located at Sportsbetri.com, the R.I. Lottery said Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon the app was available on the Apple App store. Users will have to go to one of the two casinos in the state to register for mobile betting. The system is set up to only receive bets from inside the state.
Full mobile service within Twin River Casino is expected to begin Wednesday afternoon and full service within Tiverton Casino Hotel starting shortly thereafter, according to the R.I. Lottery.
A bill to allow mobile sports betting was passed by the R.I. General Assembly in March. The bill allowed for the creation of an app that users could use to place sports wagers from anywhere in the state after registering at one of its two casinos.
Until now, sports wagers could be placed only at both Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc. casinos in Tiverton and Lincoln.
To develop the mobile betting program ,the lottery worked with its partners in the sports betting operation – International Game Technology PLC, Twin River and William Hill.
A lawsuit challenging the legality of all sports wagering is currently ongoing in Providence Superior Court. The lawsuit was filed in May, and it alleges that the state doesn’t have the authority to expand voter approval of gambling beyond table games at the Ocean State casinos. The suit argues that such an expansion – including mobile betting – would require voter approval.
State officials previously have said they had legal authority to add sports betting, which they did in advance of U.S. Supreme Court action to allow it.
Mobile betting is expected to significantly impact lottery revenue.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com
