Following something of a national trend, the Rhode Island Lottery was able to report record breaking numbers for its sports handle in the month of October. Altogether, $60.2m was wagered over the course of a month which saw the sports calendar pick up pace considerably.
The previous record had come just the month before, when the betting handle reached $41.2m (46.1%). Sports betting in the state has seen incredible year-on-year growth of 73.5%.
The huge jump over September’s numbers can largely be pinned on a more varied and active sports calendar: both college and professional football have come into full stride, the hockey and basketball seasons commenced, and the World Series handed the championship to the Atlanta Braves.
These numbers also represent a return to normalcy after the pandemic, as this has been the first football season since betting was allowed when retail sportsbooks were not hindered by Covid safety guidelines.
While online sports betting narrowly beat out retail wagers in terms of money spent, they was not too much of a gulf between the two at, $31.1m and $29.0m respectively.
Of the state’s retail operators, Twin River significantly beat out the Tiverton Casino, with $21.3m in wagers made at the former and $7.7m at the latter.
Combined book revenue was up to $3,608,570m, bringing the total for the fiscal year 2022 – which, having begun in July 2021, has now reached the end of its first quarter) - $12,014,000m.
As mentioned, Rhode Island is just the latest in a string of states to have beaten previous records for sports handles: Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Washington DC.
