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Rhode Island Lottery Delivers Nearly $435M To State’s FY2023 General Fund

According to the audit summary, the Rhode Island Lottery contributed about $435 million to the state’s General Fund in the 2023 fiscal year.

Cash And Red Arrow With Upward Financial Trajectory and Rhode Island Lottery logo
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Tebearau Egbe Avatar
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After a rigorous audit, the Rhode Island Lottery released its financial statement for the fiscal year, which concluded on June 30, 2023. According to the audit summary, the lottery contributed about $435 million to the state’s General Fund in the 2023 fiscal year.

This is a stretch away from the 2022 fiscal year, which was only able to raise $388 million for the state’s General Fund. The amount delivered to the state represents the Rhode Island Lottery’s net income after payments of operating costs, commissions, and prize awards.

The audit summary released from the office of the auditor general, David A. Bergantino, explained that the financial statement has gone through all the required checks and is thorough.

“We concluded that the Lottery’s financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2023, were fairly presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. We did not identify any deficiencies in internal control required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.”

Rhode Island Lottery 2023 fiscal year highlights

  • Rhode Island pays $435.7 million to the state’s General Fund, a $46.0 million increase compared to the 2022 fiscal year.
  • Video lottery earnings reached about $350.5 million, representing 71.9% of the state’s total revenue from gaming operations for the year. Meanwhile, last year’s fiscal year accounted for $288.8 million in video lottery.
  • Table games contributed $21.1 million in gross profit for the 2023 fiscal year.
  • The state recorded a $5.7 million gross profit increase in sports betting, up 28.5% over last year.
  • Online gambling revenue improved the state’s financial performance, reaching $50.9 million in gross profit. This figure represents an increase of 14.4% from the previous year. The increase in online gambling revenue is due to the larger jackpot prizes.
Pie Chart Showing Rhode Island Lottery's Gross Profit FY2023
Source: Audit Summary from the State of Rhode Island General Assembly – Office of the Auditor General

In general, Rhode Island lottery revenue, which includes gaming activities in its two casinos, showed significant growth compared to the 2022 fiscal year.

However, with online games, the growth in gross profits amounting to $50.9 million can be attributed to increased participation in larger jackpot drawings for PowerBall and Mega Million, including three with prizes exceeding $1 billion. Meanwhile, there was a drop in instant ticket games as they racked up $24.3 million in gross profit.

The lottery’s operating expenses summed to about $14.0 million in the 2023 fiscal year, a 6.2% increase from the last fiscal year.

Rhode Island plans to leverage online casino revenue

Dominick Ruggerio, the President of the Rhode Island Senate, holds an optimistic outlook on the revenue potential of online casinos. Rhode Island legalized online casino gaming this year and has been working tirelessly to make sure it realizes the monetary value of this new venture.

Ruggerio explained that revenue from online casinos will help reinstate the budget with federal pandemic funds. “We’re looking at iGaming as a revenue generator, he said.”

Regarding Rhode Island’s online casinos, Ruggerio holds a positive outlook on the industry‘s ability to generate $220 million in tax revenue over the next five years.

Tebearau Egbe Avatar
Written by

Tebearau Egbe has written about gambling for more than four years. She has a Master's degree in philosophy and possesses a unique ability to dissect complex industry developments, distilling them into insightful narratives for readers.

View all posts by Tebearau Egbe

Tebearau Egbe has written about gambling for more than four years. She has a Master's degree in philosophy and possesses a unique ability to dissect complex industry developments, distilling them into insightful narratives for readers.

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