Bally’s picked to launch Rhode Island’s second online sportsbook

As soon as late November, Rhode Island will have a new online option to bet on any sports matches — one from the very company that already operates the state’s in-person sportsbook.

The Rhode Island Lottery on May 8 awarded Bally’s Corp. a tentative five-year deal to join the state’s small digital sportsbook, ending the single-operator sports betting market that has been in place since online wagers began in the state in 2019.

“Bally’s is thrilled to have been awarded a second sports betting license by the State of Rhode Island,” company spokesperson Patti Doyle said in a statement. “We appreciate the confidence and trust the state has placed in our ability to provide a best-in-class product — built for scalability, innovation, and the evolving demands of modern bettors — which will generate additional revenue to benefit the Rhode Island taxpayers.”

Bally’s was one of two companies that submitted a bid to the Rhode Island Lottery’s request for qualifications that closed Feb. 19. The other company that sought out the license for a state-sanctioned app was Rush Street Interactive, a publicly traded gaming platform in Chicago.

A spokesperson for Rush Street did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Terms of Bally’s contract are still being negotiated, Rhode Island Lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi confirmed.

“The date that Bally’s is allowed to go live with its sports betting app will be a point of negotiation within the contract, but the date cannot be earlier than Nov. 26, 2026, which is the date the exclusivity within the contract with IGT expires,” Grimaldi said in an email to Rhode Island Current.

IGT, formerly headquartered in Providence before its 2024 acquisition by Las Vegas-based Apollo Global Management Inc., has managed the Sportsbook RI app since September 2019. The app has had mixed reviews from users even as it boasts a 4.4 star rating on Apple’s App Store and a 4.3 on Google Play. 

“This is without a doubt the worst sportsbook experience you could get anywhere, legal or otherwise,” one Apple user wrote in a March 29 review. “The lines are horrible, particularly on longer odds events, like PGA TOUR outrights.”

IGT will remain a part of the state’s market. The Rhode Island Lottery in January signed a two-year contract extension allowing the continued use of its PlaySports technology to manage the state’s retail and mobile betting through November 2028.

Phil O’Shaughnessey, a spokesperson for IGT, declined to comment on the company’s incoming competition from Bally’s. 

Patrick Kelly, a professor of accountancy at Providence College who studies gambling, said he was not surprised to see the home state gambling company get the contract.

“They already offer this in-house,” he said in an interview.

What did stand out to Kelly was the lack of interest from sports betting giants such as DraftKings and FanDuel, which operate in neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The two companies were among the eight firms that responded to the Rhode Island Lottery’s preliminary call for interest issued last summer — a process spurred in part by a recommendation last year by adviser Spectrum Gaming Group to add four to six new online sports betting vendors to stay competitive with neighboring states.

DraftKings decided not to respond to the Lottery’s request for qualifications because the commercial terms outlined by the state would not have positioned the company to compete effectively in the market, a DraftKings spokesperson told Rhode Island Current in an email.

“We remain committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders across the state and would welcome the opportunity to advance a framework that fosters competition and supports a sustainable market,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for FanDuel did not immediately respond to an inquiry before the Memorial Day weekend on why their company declined to apply to the state’s request for qualifications. Spectrum Gaming’s 2025 report did warn of “limited interest” among vendors because of the state’s tax structure. 

Under the current revenue-sharing structure set under Rhode Island general law, the state retains 51% of online sports betting revenue, while the online vendor receives 32%, and Bally’s physical sportsbook at its Lincoln casino receives the remaining 17%.

Lawmakers in the Rhode Island General Assembly are considering updating the tax breakdown, along with requiring between four to six vendors in the state as recommended in the Spectrum report.

The companion bills by Rep. Matthew Dawson and Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone would increase the vendors’ take from 32% to about 79% of the revenue. Both bills start with a 51% annual revenue allocation, but the rate would drop to 12% after the state receives the amount of revenue generated by sports-wagering in fiscal year 2025 — which amounted to $18.6 million.

FanDuel is publicly supporting the legislation.

“These bills would give Rhode Islanders access to the best sports betting platforms in America, grow the market responsibly and deliver guaranteed long-term revenue for the state, all while maintaining oversight that protects customers,” Cory Fox, the Senior Vice President of Public Policy at FanDuel, said in a statement to Rhode Island Current. 

Dawson’s bill was heard by the House Committee on Finance on April 29. Ciccone’s legislation was heard before the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming on Wednesday, May 20. 

Both were held for further study, as is standard procedure for an initial vetting by a legislative panel. But Ciccone, a Providence Democrat who chairs the legislature’s Joint Committee on Lottery, said he doubts the bills will move forward this year.

“It’s still in the early stages — there’s still a lot up in the air for discussion,” Ciccone said in a recent interview.

But in the meantime, Ciccone said he’s happy to see one new vendor join Rhode Island’s market.

“Once you get competition, things have to change,” he said.

Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com.