Providence-based Bally’s Corporation, an interactive gaming company, has been awarded the Ocean State’s second mobile sports betting license, and it is expected to launch in November 2026.
Until this new platform officially goes live, many local bettors seeking variety outside of the state’s current single-operator model will likely continue utilizing trusted offshore sportsbooks for their wagers.
Monopoly No More
Since 2019, the Ocean State has had only one mobile sports betting platform, Sportsbook Rhode Island, operated by IGT. However, late last year, the Rhode Island Lottery issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) with an application deadline of February 2026.
Due to Rhode Island’s nationwide high tax rate of 51% and the state’s modest population of just over 1.1 million, few operators were eager to apply for the license. “There was a hope we’d get more companies to reply, but they didn’t,” Lottery Deputy Director Michael O’Rourke told NBC 10.
“I think that was part of the reason some of the companies did not respond,” O’Rourke added.
However, Providence-based Bally’s Corporation, which currently operates an iGaming platform as well as two land-based casinos in Tiverton and Lincoln, Rhode Island, and Chicago-based Rush Street Interactive, both tossed their respective hats in the ring.
“There was a thorough review process,” O’Rourke said, with Bally’s beating out Rush Street Interactive.
Bally’s spokeswoman Patti Doyle issued a statement saying, “Bally’s is thrilled to have been awarded a second sports betting license by the State of Rhode Island. We appreciate the confidence and trust the State has placed in our ability to provide a best-in-class product – built for scalability, innovation, and the evolving demands of modern bettors – which will generate additional revenue to benefit the Rhode Island taxpayers.”
Greater Expansion in the Works?
State Representative Matthew Dawson believes his state needs to more closely align with most other states that have legalized mobile sports betting. Competition has proven to be a revenue-generating catalyst, but Rhode Island designed its digital sports betting system quite differently by granting a monopoly to IGT.
“We need more competition,” Dawson, an East Providence Democrat, said in an interview. “If you have a monopoly, you have no reason to innovate.”
But now that Bally’s has been awarded the second license in the state, many believe that several more national operators will spur even more revenue, including Dawson. However, to entice those platforms to enter the Rhode Island sports betting landscape, the onerous 51% tax rate would have to be decreased.
“As long as we get our cut, that’s the goal,” said Representative Dawson. “I want to significantly increase the amount of tax revenue that comes in, and we can put that toward the things we desperately need more money for.”
From July 2025 through March 2026, Rhode Island generated nearly $27 million in revenue, with the state getting a bit more than half. Yet, if Dawson’s bill does get passed and more mobile sportsbooks are allowed licenses, the handle will likely increase, which means so too will the revenue.
However, to facilitate that end, the tax rate would need to be lowered, but by how much is still up for debate.
