Rhode Island igaming revenue rises 113.5% year-over-year in May
Rhode Island’s igaming sector grew 113.5% year-over-year in May, with net gaming revenue rising from US$2.3 million to US$4.8 million.
The figures, published by the Rhode Island Lottery, also showed that combined wagers were up in May, growing from US$61.2 million to US$129.1 million, a 110.9% year-over-year increase, while combined prizes rose from US$59 million to US$124.3 million, a yearly increase of 110.8%.
Slots gaming contributed the most to the combined net gaming revenue total, recording US$3.7 million in May, while online table games generated US$1.1 million. Both represented a year-over-year increase of 128.9% and 73.7%, respectively.
Rhode Island became the seventh state in the US, after New Jersey, West Virginia, Michigan, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, to legalize internet gaming.
The sector has expanded rapidly since then, although there has been controversy over the access that young people have to online gambling.
While 18-year-olds can legally gamble at retail casinos, a bill that would exclude 18- to 21-year-olds from igaming and impose harsher penalties on underage gambling was up for reconsideration in the state Legislature in April.
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Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
