Gambling revenues are back up, even if most of the sector is down, R.I. auditor general report says

Rhode Island’s gaming revenue has rebounded from last year’s decline, even as most aspects of the industry have taken some financial hits. And it’s all thanks to mobile gambling, according to the latest report by the Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General.

The annual report released Wednesday showed the Rhode Island Lottery transferred $433.6 million to the state’s general fund in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 — a $7.2 million increase over fiscal 2024 revenue of $426.4 million.

In fiscal 2023, the state reported $434 million in gaming revenues.

Like prior years, the bulk of last year’s gaming revenue came from video lottery terminals within the state’s two Bally’s-run casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton, which accounted for $313.6 million, or 70.8% of total gross profit. But even that stable source of gaming income saw a decrease of 0.6% from fiscal 2024, according to the auditor’s report.

The main reason gaming revenues stayed afloat, the report notes, was iGaming. Formally launched by Bally’s Corp. in March 2024, the state’s mobile casino provided a net profit of $20.8 million to Rhode Island’s general fund at the end of the fiscal year.

But the auditor’s report notes the iGaming money may not be reliable much longer.

“Massachusetts is expected to implement iLottery in the spring of 2026, as well as legislative consideration of some additional iGaming bills,” the report states.

Most other forms of gaming were on the decline in the most recent fiscal year.

The auditor general’s report notes the state’s share of table games revenue fell 2.9%, along with a 16.1% decrease in online lottery offerings. The latter was attributed to “significantly fewer large jackpot drawings” — those advertised in an excess of $1 billion — for PowerBall and Mega Millions drawings.

Revenue generated by sports wagers declined by 3.2%, with only $18.6 million transferred to the state’s general fund. In fiscal year 2024, the state received $19.2 million from sports betting.

The auditor’s report blames the decline “primarily due to increased competition from neighboring states.”

Rhode Island was the first state in New England to legalize sports wagers in 2018, but Connecticut and Massachusetts were close behind.

Connecticut, which legalized sports betting in 2021, saw nearly $28 million in revenue from bets in the most recent fiscal year, according to data from the state’s Department of Consumer Protection.

Massachusetts, which launched sports betting in 2023, saw over $150 million in gaming revenue, according to data from the commonwealth’s Gaming Commission.

Lawmakers have tried to make sports betting more appealing in Rhode Island in recent years as a way to recapture bets that have since gone to neighboring states. In 2023, the state legalized bets on collegiate teams when they are participating in tournaments consisting of four or more teams.

Some also tried to expand the number of online sports betting vendors beyond the single app managed by International Game Technology, which has the state’s exclusive contract to run Rhode Island’s digital sportsbook through November 2026.

Legislation introduced this year sought to expand the number of sports betting vendors to between three and five  by July 2026. A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone cleared the Senate during the final weeks of the 2025 legislative session, but never reached the House floor. 

Rhode Island gambling regulators are in the midst of laying the groundwork to possibly expand online sports betting options — though there is some skepticism about how much money an expanded market would bring.