- Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s iGaming bill passed by a 30-4 vote in the Senate on Thursday.
- Amendments to Senate Bill 0948 include an increased tax rate, gambling age, and replacement of digital casino games with live dealers.
- Senate Bill 0948 now heads to the House, where similar iGaming legislation is making its way through House committees.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Rhode Island iGaming bill passed in the Senate on Thursday. The bill sponsored by Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio would give Rhode Islanders remote access to Twin River Casino games.
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio proposed Senate Bill 0948 on behalf of Bally’s Corp. and International Game Technology (IGT), who earn over $4 billion dollars in annual revenue. The partnership between the two large corporations seeks to bring iGaming to Rhode Island through Senate Bill 0948, as Bally’s announced their desire to join the Rhode Island market back in February.
Twin River Casino & Hotel hosts sports betting, but will offer online casino gambling in RI on all mobile devices if the bill passes.
RI S 0948 heads to the House of Representatives after many amendments.
- Minimum gambling age raised from 18 to 21.
- Removal of digital casino games, replaced with live-dealer games only.
- State revenue share increase on slots from 50% to 61%.
- State revenue share on table games from 18% to 15.5%
In a Rhode Island General Assembly press release, bill sponsor Ruggerio claims “This iGaming legislation is constitutional, is geared to mature users, contains education provisions for problem gamblers, and preserves the revenue allocation percentages as they are currently in place.”
Results from a study conducted by Bally’s Corp. and Spectrum Gaming Group found that the state could potentially earn over $200 million dollars in gambling tax revenue in the first five years. The $93 million dollar first year legal online gambling revenue estimate would vastly surpass sports betting numbers, with Rhode Island receiving under $50 million in revenue in 2022.
A hearing date for Senate Bill 0948 is still pending on the Rhode Island House of Representatives calendar, but similar iGaming legislation is set to be heard in the House Finance Committee on Tuesday. Representative Gregory Constantino has already introduced his iGaming legislation House Bill 6348 to the House, but it has not experienced amendments that its Senate component has.
The state currently has two brick and mortar sportsbooks: Bally’s Tiverton and Bally’s Lincoln. Bally’s plans to launch iGaming by January 1, 2024.