Sportsbook Rhode Island app suffers outage on NFL opening Sunday
Rhode Island’s sports betting app, Sportsbook Rhode Island, failed during the NFL’s first full Sunday, leaving gamblers unable to place bets for more than an hour.
The Rhode Island Lottery said the app went down at about 3.30pm Sunday due to server issues. The outage lasted roughly 75 minutes, overlapping with the kickoff of the 4pm NFL games. Bettors attempting to log on were shown a message about “planned maintenance”, but officials later clarified that the downtime was not scheduled.
The Lottery wrote on X, “We apologize for the inconvenience. Sportsbook Rhode Island experienced a server issue around 3.30pm which interrupted wagering for approx. 75 minutes. This was unexpected and not a planned maintenance outage, which was resolved as quickly as possible.”
The outage sparked frustration on social media, particularly among users who tried to chase losses from the New England Patriots’ earlier game.
Rhode Island remains one of the few states with a sole sports betting vendor. The state’s IGT contract grants mobile and retail sports betting exclusivity until 2026.
While the Senate passed legislation last year to open the market to other operators such as FanDuel or DraftKings, the House never took up the bill. Lawmakers are expected to revisit the issue in the upcoming session, though the state’s high tax rates could discourage competitors.
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