New England’s sports betting market just got bigger, as Governor, Gina Raimondo, put pen to paper on Friday signing a $9.6 billion budget for the 2019 financial year which starts on July 1, making sports betting legal in Rhode Island.
Reuters reports that the brand new budget for the coming 2019 financial year accepted by Governor Raimondo provides the lowest U.S. state 51% of their earnings from sports betting wagers. The budget reportedly relies on $23.5 million in new revenue to come from sports gambling although Rhode Islanders will most likely have to wait until October 1 to the activity to go live.
While customers will need to wait to participate, Rhode Island could nevertheless have a leg up in the New England sports betting market, as round the country states are racing to produce the activity legal after the May 14 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional. The large court’s ruling overturned the 1992 legislation that barred sports betting in all but four countries.
U.K.-based gaming company, International Game Technology PLC (IGT) (IGT:New York), was reportedly the sole bidder to be the tiny oriental state’s vendor of sports betting technology. The company counts Providence, RI among its seven major North American locations.
The state doesn’t reportedly plan to add online wagering just yet, preferring rather to use a cautious strategy.
According to Reuters, that may be disadvantageous for the state, especially if the neighboring country of Connecticut and Massachusetts, in any point in time, allow customers to gamble online throughout their various states.
Connecticut Gov., Dannel P. Malloy, has been back and forth about the issue, having most recently told reporters that legislative leaders communicated that lawmakers are available to sports wagering at brick-and-mortar centers, but they reportedly do not feel exactly the same about online sports betting.
Massachusetts meanwhile is still looking at legalizing sports betting in early 2019 and doesn’t seem to be in a rush to delve to the issues of whether or not it would be allowed online and how it would be provided, taxed and regulated.
The Rhode Island Lottery is overseen by the department, and in addition to games of chance such as Powerball and scratch tickets, will reportedly operate sports betting. Grimaldi noted that lottery brokers sell those existing games of chance and the country doesn’t want to damage the longstanding relationship it has with them by rushing to online sports wagering.
Since it is, the state of Rhode Island will receive $51 from a $100 sports bet lost by a player at one of the two Twin River-owned casinos, with IGT getting $32 and whichever casino getting $17. But, critics say those high tax rates may be problematic.
“High tax rates interfere with the lawful market’s capacity to compete with shady, illegal operators that don’t pay taxes back into the country,” stated Sara Slane, spokeswoman for the American Gaming Association.
Casinos may also limit their budgets on promotions due to the low take, with senior analyst for PlayUSA.com, Chris Grover, saying, “The comparatively small share allotted for casinos signifies that those casinos have very little incentive to market the product, which will dampen earnings potential,” according to Reuters.
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