Online sports betting is legal in Rhode Island, but it limited by only offering a solitary, lottery-run betting site and an in-person registration requirement.

Sports betting was signed into law by Gov. Gina Raimondo in late June 2018, but it took nearly five months for the state to accept its first wager. Rhode Island’s lottery is able to conduct sports betting at either of the Twin River Casino properties in the state. Eligible bettors can place bets in Rhode Island in-person at either casino. They can also bet online, but must register in person at the Twin River facility in either Tiverton or Lincoln before doing so.

This registration requirement is limiting sign ups. Since mobile sports betting was legalized in 2019, less than half of the 12,000 online sportsbook applicants have completed registered at the state’s two casinos.

Until bettors were permitted to bet online, all legal bets in Rhode Island had to be placed in person. The Twin River Lincoln property became the first casino in the state to take bets on sports in November 2018. William Hill works with software giant Information Game Technology to manage the operations sportsbook provided by both Twin River Casino properties.

Is Sports Betting Legal in Rhode Island?

Yes, if you’re at least 18 years old you can bet legally in Rhode Island, but prepared to register at one of two brick-and-mortar casinos before placing a mobile sports bet.

Rhode Island revised its sports betting laws in 2019 to lift restrictions that limited sports betting to in-person bets and expanded them to permit online bets. This made it so William Hill, together with Information Game Technology, could help Twin River run its online sportsbook.

The Rhode Island Lottery oversees gambling in the state, including online sports betting. Because of this, there is no competition among the top sportsbooks in the country like DraftKings and FanDuel.

Rhode Island Casinos and Online Partners

The two Twin River casinos where you can place bets:

What to Consider When Choosing Rhode Island Betting Sites

There are not a lot of options to choose from in Rhode Island because it's run by the state lottery, but here are some things to look for when considering placing a bet:

• Free Bets, Bonuses & More
  Top online sportsbooks everywhere offer enticements, such as free bets, bonuses and more to get you onto their sites. There will likely be certain betting requirements you'll have to fulfill, but anything free is worth considering.
• Sports and Odds
  

  Does the sportsbook offer the sports and sporting events you want to bet on? Maybe you want to place a wager on international soccer or horse racing. Are those choices offered?

  Once you find the game or event your want to bet on, check out how generous the odds are. You can look at an odds comparison site and see how the game or event stacks up to other available odds.

• User Experience
  Just like other industries, especially where there is competition, some companies put a high value on user experience. That's true for online betting. Some brands offer betting sites and apps that work well, are easy to use and look good on your mobile device. Others don't. Make sure you look at sites and apps in Rhode Island to see which ones work for you.

Latest Rhode Island Sports Betting Numbers

RHODE ISLAND SPORTS BETTING, MARCH vs. FEB.

Updated May 3

Gambling in Rhode Island Timeline

2019

Rhode Island passes a bill to expand sports betting online. It is signed into law by Gov. Gina Raimondo in March. This measure allows providers that are already licensed by the state to begin offering online sportsbook sites and apps for customers to bet on sports anywhere within the state.

2018

Sports betting in-person is legalized within the state in June 2018. Any eligible bettor over the age of 18 could place bets at Rhode Island’s two casinos. In November, Twin River Casino in Lincoln becomes the first place in Rhode Island to take a bet.

2016

Rhode Island and Tiverton approve of two different referendums to approve the transfer and conversion of the Newport Grand facility into a Twin River property. They also approve of turning the casino into an 84-room hotel with video lottery machines and table games.

2012

Voters in the state approve of a ballot measure that promises to introduce full-scale table games at the state’s two rival casinos, Twin River in Lincoln and NewportGrand in Tiverton.

1992

The state introduces video lottery machines at Rhode Island’s two pari-mutuel locations, letting customers take a chance to win real money while betting on the races.

1988

Rhode Island becomes a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association,which assists states that participate in multi-jurisdictional lottery games.

1974

The government begins to administer the state’s lottery after Rhode Island passed a constitutional amendment that created it the year before. The Rhode Island lottery has put more than $6.9 billion in the state’s General Fund since its initial implementation.

1934

Voters in the state approve the implementation of pari-mutuel horse race betting. The state opens two different race tracks where betting takes place before being shuttered in the early 1970s.