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Casinos in Rhode Island are on the precipice of a significant expansion of their business. However, their current footing is far from undesirable. As a matter of fact, revenue from slots, sports, betting and table games in the state has never been more robust.
Those gaming verticals delivered almost $720 million in revenue during the recently concluded fiscal year. While that seems destined to grow even further in the current term, the state’s two brick-and-mortar casinos will be responsible for most of that potential improvement if it occurs.
Rhode Island casinos close out FY23
The Rhode Island Lottery has just released figures for June and with it, the totals for the entire fiscal year that ended with the month. For the most part, it was a solid month for the state’s two casinos, Bally’s Tiverton and Bally’s Twin River.
Win from slots was up 7.7% compared to June 2022. Table game revenue increased an even further 11.9% year-over-year. At the same time, Rhode Island sportsbooks saw their win decline by almost a quarter in comparison to the same month last year.
Altogether, revenue from those three segments (including online sports betting) came to $58.4 million for the month. Adding that onto prior months like May Rhode Island casino revenue produced a fitting bookend for a strong year. All three verticals saw revenue increases compared to FY22:
- Slots: $531.9 million, up 9.6%
- Sports betting: $50.8 million, up 21.9%
- Table games: $136.6 million, up 8.5%
The total for FY23 of $719.4 million represented a 10.2% uptick from FY22. That sum is likely to be surpassed in the current term, however. The question is simply by how much.
Rhode Island online casino play coming soon
Rhode Island’s recently enacted gaming expansion law sets a deadline of March 1, 2024, for Bally’s and the Rhode Island Lottery to make real-money online casino games available to residents. For that reason, the worst-case scenario involves that gaming option being available for the last three months of the current fiscal year.
It’s difficult to accurately prognosticate exactly how much revenue Bally’s online casino will add to the Rhode Island Lottery’s business. That involves accounting for many abstract factors like how many people in the state will become regular players on the app.
Because the app might not be available in Rhode Island until late in the fiscal year, its impact in FY24 could be diminished. Thus, if casino revenue is to jump another 10% or more in the current term, most of that growth will have to come from the two physical casinos.
Even when Bally’s online casino app is up and running, Tiverton and Twin Rivers will continue to represent the vast majority of gaming revenue in Rhode Island. If they can repeat their performances from the past fiscal year, their footing for the future will appear even more sound.
