Rhode Island Sports Betting Getting Closer To Expectations

• The March handle for Rhode Island sports betting was $23.6 million
• Rhode Island sports bettors had won 94.4% of all money wagered in the state before March.
• Mobile wagering is expected to launch before the start of the NFL season.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – With only three months of the fiscal year remaining in Rhode Island, sports betting is starting to come closer to projections… at least for March’s numbers.

According to Patrick Anderson of The Providence Journal, the two licensed Rhode Island sportsbooks saw profits reach as high as $1.55 million for the month.

This is certainly the jumping platform the state needed to get closer to the track for the budgeted sports betting revenues. Previously, the sportsbooks only had earned $300 thousand earned through the first three and a half months of operation.

March is always a heavy-volume betting month, as the NCAA Tournament drives the masses into the sportsbooks. Sports betting handles and revenue numbers were up across the board compared to that of the gambler-friendly month of February. For Rhode Island, the casinos were able to take in $23.6 million for all wagers, setting the new monthly high.

The state government is set to receive 51% of total sportsbook revenue, which comes out to be almost $790 thousand for the month. This brings the total tax contributions from Rhode Island sports betting up to just under $950 thousand dollars.

Though the reported revenue was not as high as expected, this can account from one major factor nobody is talking about. Coming into the month, the hold (or revenue for sportsbooks) was at 0.56%. Other states such as Pennsylvania and Mississippi have a hold around 10%, while Nevada is known to average around 4%.

Rhode Island bettors seem to be on target with their selections and have even put at least one of the state’s books into the red for a month on two separate occasions.

A hold like the one we’re seeing in Rhode Island is not likely to remain constant, as the influx of mobile sports betting will likely help the trend move in favor of the books. The mobile sports betting industry in Rhode Island, which will be also be overseen by the state lottery, is expected to launch before the start of the NFL season.

Under the newly signed bill, mobile betting will be allowed statewide, though the original measure had the activity location-restricted to the casinos only, similar to the outlines of Mississippi’s regulations.

News tags: Rhode Island | Rhode Island sports betting | RI revenue | sports betting